Track Teams Run Wild

 

 

For the men and women’s track teams, the time before and during break was anything but uneventful. The teams racked up numerous podium positions as they competed in the ECAC and IC4A Championships and the Aztec Track Classic at San Diego State University.

The women enjoyed their shining moments at the ECAC Championships. There, the 3,200m and distance medley relays finished strong securing sixth and 12th places, respectively. Seniors Liz Crowley, Nicole Christoforo, and Hannah Failing, and sophomore Kristen Kiraly finished the two-mile race in 9:11.33. The distance medley team of senior Meaghan McAnaney, sophomores Jessica Kielty and Andrea Fugazot, and first-year Ashley Niness clocked in at 12:34.41.

“In an attempt to give us the best chance of running faster, we strategically made the order of the relay,” Kiraly said.”All four of us ran season best times, and we broke the school record we had set two weeks earlier by fourteen seconds.”

Once again, for the men’s team it was senior Michael Hanlon that came away with impressive finishes. Hanlon first journeyed to the IC4A Indoor Championships accompanied by classmate John Gillespie. Gillespie finished his 1,000m race in 17th with a time of 2:30.09, a mere .01 behind the 16th place finisher. Hanlon came away with eighth place in the 3,000m with a time of 8:10.14. Two weeks later, Hanlon qualified for the IC4A Outdoor Championships by running a 3:51.03 in the 1,500m at the Aztec Track Classic. In addition to Hanlon’s runner-up finish, teammate and classmate Scott DeRoo crossed the tape in seventh in 4:00.53.

“The 1500 meters is a pretty short event for me, so usually it just feels like a sprint the whole way,” Hanlon said. “[It] isn’t really my event; Ionly run it to work on my speed for the longer races.”

In Puerto Rico, it was the 4x100m relay that qualified for the IC4A’s. The team of senior Geoff Bean, juniors Andy Holway and Terrence Dilworth, and sophomore Mike Walden claimed third place with a time of 42.50.

Next week, the women travel to Navy while the men do so the following week, looking to continue their wave of success into the future.