The WashU women’s 4×400 meter team competes at the Bob Keck Invite on Feb. 8. (courtesy of WashU Athletic Communications)

The WashU track and field teams traveled to Bloomington, Illinois to take part in the Keck Invitational hosted by Illinois Wesleyan University on Feb. 8. Coming off a strong performance at the third Friday Night Spikes on Jan. 31, the No. 2 women’s and No. 21 men’s team accumulated 10 and six top-three finishes on Saturday, respectively, while competing against 20 other teams from the region.  

In the men’s competition, junior James Corbett achieved the team’s tied-highest finish in a track event in the 800 meter run, coming in second place and hitting a season best. His time of 1:56.22 was good for the 100th best time in Division III track and field this year. 

The other second place finish came from the 4×400-meter relay team, consisting of senior Elvin Binagi, junior Brandon Brazil, sophomore William Frohling, and first-year Benjamin Kruger, with a time of 3:24.71.

The longest event of the day, the 3,000-meter run, featured three Bears in third, fourth, and fifth place, all achieving personal records. Junior Oliver Witt, sophomore Will Liu, and first-year Sean Green finished within five seconds of each other. In the mile, senior Fernando Ribeiro Duraes finished in 4:21.20 for fifth place and a season-best time.   

WashU swept the podium spots in the pole vault, with junior George Bourdier placing first, junior Tommaso Maiocco second, and sophomore Peter Lichtenberger in third. Bourdier hit a personal best of 4.90 meters — the 11th best mark in Division III this season.

In the women’s events, the two distance events featured three top-five finishes for the Bears. First-year Mackenzie Raue finished fourth in the mile with a time of 5:06.33, a personal record, and the 61st best D-III time this season. 

Six other Bears achieved personal records or season bests in the event. In the 3,000-meter race, first and second place were held by junior Jillian Heth and senior Abby Patterson, respectively. Heth hit a season best of 9:58.44, and Patterson hit a personal record of 10:06.83. 

The sprint and mid-distance events were also a strong point for the women’s team. Senior Lauren Gay finished in third in the 60-meter hurdles, and junior Jasmine Wright also came in third place in the 60-meter dash. 

Sophomore Caroline Echols placed third in the 400 meters, and two Bears finished fifth and sixth in the 800 meters, good for the 45th and 46th best times in the event this season. Sophomore Cate Christopher finished in 2:17.30, and senior Virginia Pridgen crossed the finish line three hundredths of a second later in 2:17.33. 

The Bears also grabbed first and second place in the 4×400-meter relay. The first-place team, consisting of junior Kylie Spytek, senior Nicole Stewart, sophomore Julia Coric, and senior Izzy Gorton, ran a time of 3:54.95, and the second-place team, consisting of first-year Alison Conner, Echols, sophomore Gayle Henderson, and Christopher, finished in 3:56.72.

Senior Yasmin Ruff continued her dominant form in the pole-vault, scaling 4.01 meters to take first place. Senior Mackenzie Stock came in fifth, climbing 3.41 meters, a season best and the 58th best mark in D-III meets this season. 

Rounding out the field events, sophomore Olivia Theisen came in second in the high jump. Junior Jenae Bothe grabbed a first-place finish in the shot put, the team’s fourth victory of the day. 

Looking ahead, the Bears will travel to Whitewater, Wisconsin to compete at the Midwest Elite Invitational on Saturday, Feb. 15, their second-to-last meet before the University Athletic Association Championships on Mar. 1 and 2.