The Washington University’s track and field teams’ hard work throughout the two-day indoor University Athletic Association Championship meet paid off, as both the men’s and women’s teams took top spots, bringing new school records and multiple-event winners back to St. Louis.

With a final score of 149 points, the women’s team defeated second-place Emory by 13 points, while the men’s squad won the meet with 117 points and an impressive 27-point advantage over second-place Carnegie Mellon University and Emory University. The meet was held at the New Balance Track and Field Center in New York.

“We did really well in this meet,” head coach Jeff Stiles said. “We’re very proud of our athletes and coaching staff. The kids were awesome and just spot on. I could tell that both sides really maxed out on both days.”

On the first day, the women had a remarkable start in the pole vault as sophomores Anna Etherington and Moira Killoran and freshman Claire Simons made a first-through-third sweep. Etherington won the UAA title with a height of 3.55 meters while Killoran and Simons posted personal-best heights of 3.45 meters and 3.35 meters, respectively. The distance medley relay team, composed of freshman Lucy Cheadle, sophomores Shannon Howell and Elizabeth Worley and senior Erica Jackey, broke the UAA record by 10 seconds, finishing with a time of 12:01.04 and winning the conference title.

Sophomore Sarah Fisher dominated the 5,000-meter race, recording a time of 17:39.12 and winning the event. Other highlights included the performances of sophomore Jasmine Williams and junior Anne Diaz-Arrastia, both of whom posted season-best long jump heights of 5.36 meters and 5.09 meters, respectively.

The men’s team also left New York with a championship in hand. In the 5,000 meters, sophomore Kevin Sparks led Wash. U. to a second-place finish, recording a time of 14:45.55, which is ranked third in program history. Freshman Ryan Senci finished with a time of 14:54.69, earning all-UAA honors and posting a personal-best time. Senior Tucker Hartley came in fifth-place at 15:03.04.

Freshman Nick Alaniva placed third in the long jump, clinching all-UAA honors with a personal-best height of 6.66m. Senior Justin Pieper placed second in the high jump as he cleared a height of 2.00m to tie his season-best. In the 200-meter preliminaries, junior Ryan Doll recorded a time of 22.33, breaking the school record by .08 seconds and qualifying for finals.

Though weary and tired, Wash. U. was determined to finish strong on the second day.

“We just tried to take advantage of what we can control,” Stiles said. “We just went out there and did the best we could. We’ve got great athletes and we knew that we could keep up with great performances from Saturday. We went all in with no regrets.”

The women started out strong again as Williams finished sixth in the finals of the 200- meters, recording a time of 26.83. In the women’s 800-meters, Wash. U. had a 1-3-6 finish in the finals as the UAA champion, Jackey, led the Bears with a time of 2:12.60, senior Liz Phillips, 2:15.09, and junior Elisabeth Stocking, 2:23.31. Jackey and Phillips continued their dominating performance in the mile run, as Jackey won the event with 5:00.22, and Phillips, 5:03.38. Sophomore Claire Tourjee also finished fifth (5:09.45). In the 4×400, sophomore Nkele Davis, Williams, Phillips, and Howell placed second.

Continuing their excellent performance, the men grinded out the second day with several top place finishes, maintaining their lead. In the 60-meter dash, Doll and Alaniva placed fourth and fifth, respectively, with times of 7.20 and 7.22. Doll continued his dominance in the 200-meters, recording a runner-up time of 22.27 as he was barely edged at the finish line.

Sophomore Arthur Townsend also ran well, placing third in the 400-meters with a time of 50.67. Senior Tyler Jackson won the 60-meter hurdles, with a time of 8.14. Men’s pole vault was also a success as freshman Troy Makous (4.45 meters) took first, Alaniva (4.40 meters) second, and freshman Kyle Engelken (4.10 meters) fifth.

With these two victories in the books, the track and field team will travel to Naperville, Ill. on March 2 for the North Central Last Chance Meet.

“We really need to recover from this,” Stiles said. “I think we can use these wins as a springboard towards more wins. I’m excited to see where we will go from here. We’re going to try to advance more people to nationals, but for right now, I’m just proud of my kids.”