The men’s and women’s track and field teams will travel to Pittsburgh, Pa. this weekend for the University Athletic Association (UAA) Outdoor Championships. The two-day meet at Carnegie Mellon University will pit the Bears against the toughest competition from their conference.

The men’s team is coming off of a sixth-place finish last weekend at the Millikin University Classic, while the women took home fifth-place honors. On the men’s side, sophomore Greg Reindl was the only Bear to take first in an event, taking home the 800-meter title with a season-best score of 1:55.01. Other highlights for the men’s squad included basketball player Cameron Williams, freshman, excelling in various jumping events. Williams collected third-place medals in both the long jump (6.60 meters) and the high jump (1.85 meters). In the pole vault event, senior Ryker Jones set an all-time school-best mark of 4.85 meters, garnering him UAA Track and Field Athlete of the Week honors.

For the women, the jumpers were the bright spot as seniors Kammie Holt and Lindsey Clark-Ryan won their respective events. Holt dominated the long jump with an impressive mark of 5.33 meters while Clark-Ryan took home the triple jump with a distance of 11.04 meters. Holt’s victory was also enough to earn her the UAA Athlete of the Week award.

The team can expect similarly stiff competition at the conference championships this weekend, particularly from power Emory University. Holding numerous top conference rankings on the season, Emory will likely be the Bears’ biggest hurdle en route to the conference title.

The men’s team will rely on several members to win their respective events. This group includes junior Lance Moen, who currently holds the UAA’s top mark on the season for the 400-meter dash. The conference’s top 3,000-meter steeplechase runner, senior Darius Viet, will also be expected to heavily contribute to his team’s score. And, of course, the team will look to Jones to duplicate his success of the last weekend.

As for the women’s squad, the Bears will look to have their way in sprint events. Sophomore Leah Sabin is the current conference leader for the 100-meter dash (0:12.45) while freshman Natalie Badowski holds the top spot for the 200-meter distance (0:25.53). Sabin also sits at second on the season for the 200-meter (0:25.86). Basketball standout Hallie Hutchens, a junior, will also look to compete for first-place honors in the 400-meter dash as she also sits atop the season standings with a time of 1:03.40. The women’s team will also need a big point turnout from their various relays, who have shown throughout the course of the season that they can turn in good times.

Both Bears teams will need to turn in better performances than they did last weekend, but having had a full week to prepare, they should be ready to go out and put up some good finishes this weekend in Pittsburgh.

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