James Corbett and Frankie Lynch running in the 1,500-meter race at the 2025 WashU Distance Carnival. (courtesy of Oliver Witt)

The WashU track and field teams began their outdoor season at two of the largest outdoor track meets in the midwest: WashU Distance Carnival and WashU Invite on Mar. 28-30.

This year’s Distance Carnival and WashU Invite were much larger than they had been in the past. Despite competing against 1,400 athletes across Divisions I, II, and III, the Bears’ success was not hindered, securing 28 top 10 finishes over the three days.

One of these notable finishes was accomplished by senior Yasmin Ruff, who performed the tenth best pole vaulting height in D-III history.

Izzy Gorton competes in the 800-meter event. (courtesy of Oliver Witt)

WashU Distance Carnival

The WashU women’s track and field team placed in the top 10 five times throughout the weekend.

Senior Izzy Gorton won the 800-meter with a time of 2:09.68, with sophomore Caroline Echols finishing 1.26 seconds later, placing third.

In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, senior Abby Patterson finished in sixth place with a time of 10:49.47.

Senior Sophie Bekins finished in 4:30.53 and junior Katie Rector finished in 4:33.03, placing third and eighth place, respectively in the 1,500-meter run. Both Bekins and Rector shaved time off their entry times.

The men’s squad saw one top 10 result: a ninth-place finish for graduate student Frankie Lynch, who ran 1,500 meters in 3:48.97.

While the meet was the first of the outdoor season, Lynch believes the transition from the indoor season has been smooth.

“The transition has been pretty seamless, and everyone came out last weekend or this past weekend ready to compete at a really high level, and we just started off the season … [on] a really high note,” he said.

WashU Invite

In the women’s field events, WashU’s women’s teams earned 11 top 10 finishes, including an historic pole vaulting record.

Winning the pole vault with a height of 4.10 meters, senior Yasmin Ruff not only set a new stadium record, but also secured her name at the tenth best pole vaulting height in D-III history.

While the mark is a milestone in D-III, Ruff has her eyes set on another target — a third NCAA title and the WashU school record.

“I think maybe an even bigger goal is to break our Outdoor School record,” she said. “I don’t have that yet. Our outdoor school record is 4.15 meters, and I actually this season jumped 4.16 indoors, but it doesn’t count for the outdoor record.”

Junior Jenae Bothe found success at both the shot put and discus this past weekend, winning the shot put event with a throw of 13.87 meters and placing fourth in discus, with 40.80 meters.

In the long jump, triple jump, and high jump, graduate student Ebun Opata soared. Opata finished in fourth for long jump, leaping 5.66 meters, first in triple jump with 12.18 meters, and third in high jump, with a height of 1.66 meters.

Sophomore Olivia Theisen also did notably well in the high jump event, receiving fourth place with a jump of 1.61 meters.

On the track, WashU’s female runners dominated as well. In the 4×100, the team of sophomore Maya Davis, senior Lauren Gay, senior Nicole Stewart and junior Jasmine Wright took first in the event with a time of 46.83 seconds. Wright and Gay each secured another win during the Invite: Wright in the 100-meter dash, tying the University of Chicago’s Gabri Meschino with a time of 11.78, and Gay in the 200-meter with a time of 24.33. 

The 200-meter also saw first year Quinn Bird place in fourth in 24.94 seconds and Stewart in fifth with a time of 25.07.

The 400-meter saw a neck-and-neck result with junior Kylie Spytek beating her sophomore teammate Cate Christopher for first place by 0.2 seconds.

Bekins and senior Virigina Pridgen also crossed the finish line within milliseconds of each other — Bekins secured second place with a time of 2:16.01 and Pridgen finished next with a time of 2:16.33.

Rounding out the weekend, the team of Bird, Christopher, Spytek, and Gorton won the 4×400 relay in 3:45.82. The team of Stewart and sophomores Julia Coric, Caroline Echols, and Gayle Henderson were the runners-up, finishing in 3:52.90.

The men’s team also saw great success on both the field and around the track.

The first of two tiebreakers the Bears competed in at the Invite was between sophomore Peter Lichtenberger and graduate student Tommaso Maiocco, who both cleared 5.05 meters pole vaulting, but Lichtenberger was awarded the gold due to missing fewer attempts at the previous height.

The second tiebreaker was in the high jumping event; junior Eli Goldman finished in fourth, despite also clearing the same as the third place finisher: 1.89 meters. 

In the running lanes, senior Fernando Ribeiro Duraes finished the 1500-meter race in 3:55.11, securing second place. William Frohling finished the 400m in third with a time of 49.00 — a new personal record. 

“Running a new 400m PR was a great feeling,” Frohling wrote in a statement to Student Life. “Consistency in training and trusting that all of the work I had done throughout the fall and the indoor season would set me up for success were some of the key factors in achieving that time.”

Juniors James Corbett and Brandon Brazil both excelled at the 800-meter race; Corbett won the event with a time of 1:52.68 and Brazil placed fifth in 1:54.94.

The 200-meter race saw a second place finish from junior George Bourdier with a time of 21.42 seconds.

First-year Benjamin Kruger entered his first spring collegiate season placing in fourth at the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 55.70.

In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, the Bears had a 1-2-3 finish with first-years Benjamin Lorenz and William Ruszkowski receiving the gold and silver, respectively, and senior Charlie Fallon obtaining the bronze. Lorenz finished in a time of 9:38.39, Ruszkowski in 9:38.46, and Fallon in 9:42.89.

In the 4×400 meter relay, the team of Brazil, Frohling, sophomore Alex Gardner, and senior Elvin Binagi received third place with a time of 3:16.71 — 0.21 seconds behind the team from Southern Illinois University (SIU).

The Bears will next compete on Friday, Apr. 4 at the Illinois College True Blue Invite.