The Washington University men’s track and field team kicked off their indoor season on Saturday, Jan. 21 with brilliant success, as they won the Rose-Hulman Quad in Terre Haute, Ind. The men’s squad took third place in the event. This past weekend the teams followed up their strong showings in Terre Haute as they traveled to Jacksonville, Ill., for the Illinois College Early Bird. Once again, the women placed in the top spot while the men came in third.
In the four-team event at Rose Hulman, the Washington University women tallied up 165 points, ousting Illinois College by a 31-point margin. Out of 15 events in the meet, the University had a representative win the event eight times, and in 13 of 15 events the University had a runner place in at least the top three.
Senior Julie McDermitt started the Bears off strong early in the event by winning the women’s 55-meter dash with a time of 7.69 seconds. She also finished second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 27.58. Sophomore Abbey Hartmann and freshman Lyuda Shemyakina paced the Bears with the top two positions in the women’s 800-meter run with times of 2:28.01 and 2:31.83, respectively.
Equal success came in the 3,000-meter run as three Bears runners placed in the top three spots of the race. Junior Beth Herndon, senior Stephanie Felz, and senior Ginny Griffin clocked in with times of 10:39.70, 10:52.75, and 10:53.60, respectively. In the same fashion, the top three slots in the women’s pole vault were owned by the University; sophomore Morgen Leonard-Fleckman came in first with her jump of 3.20 m, junior Nicole Fatigati placed second with a jump of 2.90 m, and freshman Jessica Lane tied Fatigati for second with the same jump of 2.90 m.
The men struggled in the competition, placing third in the overall meet. Highlights came in the men’s 400-meter dash, where freshman Nate Koslof (52.04), junior Robert Clopton (52.92), and sophomore Marcus Woods (53.06) placed in the top three. Ryan Lester won the men’s one-mile run with a time of 4:39.30, while senior captain Brennan Bonner and sophomore Jesse McDaniel came in first and second, respectively, in the 3,000-meter run. Senior David Skiba was the last Bear to place first in an event when he ran the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 7.92, good for first place.
Coming off their first meet of the season, the teams hoped to continue their success in Jacksonville. In the 10-team contest, the women’s squad prevailed once again as they edged out home team Greenville College with 171 total points; Greenville scored 113 points. The men’s squad placed third out of eight teams with 90.5 points.
It truly was a stellar day for the Bears women, as they set a number of marks and walked away with their second straight victory. Senior Laura Ehret won the 800-meter run, clocking a time of 2:25.24. Sophomore Danielle Wadlington won the 55-meter hurdles with her time of 9.02 in the finals, Leonard-Fleckman matched her winning score from Rose-Hulman in the pole vault with a jump of 3.20m, 10-6), and freshman Erika Wade placed first in the triple jump (10.18m, 33-4 3/4).
This day was clearly dominated by the women’s field teams, and no better performance came but at the hands of junior Delaina Martin, who broke the school record in the weight throw. Martin registered a throw of 16.66 meters (54-8), which is .07 meters better than the old mark. Her throw also is an NCAA provisional qualifying mark.
The men’s and women’s squads will compete next at the Illinois Wesleyan Titan Open in Bloomington, Ill., on Saturday, Feb. 4.