Three track athletes broke Colgate University indoor school records at the Boston Valentine Invitational on Feb. 15. Hosted at Boston University, the meet featured athletes from across the Patriot League and various other schools in the country.
Senior captain Ben Horner broke the 800m record with a time of 1:51.6. Accomplishing this feat marks Horner’s first school record of his Colgate career. Horner ran cross country his first year through junior year but transitioned to focusing on the 800m this year as a senior. He reflected on his anticipation of a good time going into the meet.
“I was having really consistent performances at our past couple of meets, so I knew I was ready to run a fast time. It was our first meet at the BU track this season, and it’s always the track where I run the fastest by far, so I knew I was ready to run something fast, whether it be a school record or not was kind of up in the air. But I knew that I was ready for something,” Horner said.
Horner highlighted how this specific meet tends to historically generate broken records.
“I think it’s physically the fastest, but it’s also the atmosphere. For example, the world record was broken in the indoor 5K at this same meet. Yes, there’s a lot of college guys, but I’m warming up right next to pro-athletes or Olympic medalists, […] and then you go to race and you realize, ‘now it’s my turn,’” Horner said.
Senior sprint captain Ethan Eisner also described his mindset going into the race. Eisner has already broken the 400m record twice this indoor season.
“I had known for a while that I was capable of getting the 400 record, but I always thought that the 200 record was a little out of reach for me, but then the first 200 of the year I ran a 21.6 [seconds], which is very fast for me,” Eisner said.
At the Valentine Invitational, Eisner finally broke the 200m record, posting a time of 21.37 seconds. Eisner believes that the competition of the field enabled him to run even faster.
“Thursday night they release the heat sheets, so I know what lane I’m in and who my competitors are going to be, and I can kind of visualize the race. And I got a really good lane draw because there were two people [in the lanes next to me] who were a good bit faster than me and had run the times that I had wanted to run, and it makes it way easier to run fast if you can cue off of your competitors. I just knew going in that it was my last shot but probably my best shot that I had all year to break the record,” Eisner said.
At the meet, junior captain Clare Gillis also broke her own record in the 200m, trimming it down to 24.73 seconds. She attributes her record to the training for this season.
“I just feel really confident in my skills right now as compared to prior seasons. This was the first season in my time at Colgate that I’ve felt like I’ve had a really good base from fall training. I’m just really happy with how everything is playing out, and I know that I can go a lot faster, which is exciting. I’m really looking forward to the end of the season,” Gillis said.
Even with the excitement of their broken records, these athletes have stayed level-headed and maintained their focus on the next race ahead of them. Gillis spoke to the importance of mentality in the sport.
“This past season I’ve been working a lot more on my mentality. I think it’s a really mental sport, especially with how individual it is. My coach is really helping me with that. I think just kind of talking me through it; it’s been really helpful to have someone there who really believes in you,” Gillis said.
With the Patriot League Championship coming up from Saturday, March 1 to Sunday, March 2, Gillis further expanded on her belief in the coaching staff preparing them to compete.
“I think it’s good to acknowledge that Coach [Johnathan] Butler has done a really good job with helping everyone feel prepared for Patriots, and I think just going into this it’s been really good to lean on my teammates. We’re ready for Patriots,” Gillis said.
For Eisner and Horner, this Patriots will be the last of their indoor track careers. Horner shared his current mindset as a senior.
“Last year was the worst year I had at Colgate for track. I was a lot slower than my sophomore year times, and that really impacted me mentally, so this year as a senior I’ve really been trying to enjoy the privilege of racing every day,” Horner said. “I’m at the point now where there’s only a handful of meets left in my career. Every time I step on that line, it’s just about running with gratitude.”
Eisner also shared his thoughts on what it means to be a senior in front of his younger teammates, additionally complimenting his fellow seniors Cole Blair and Owen Holland.
“I’m just trying to be a good example for them and show them that it’s possible to compete here and to run very fast because I didn’t necessarily have that when I was a freshman,” Eisner said. “We were terrible my freshman year. We were last in the Patriot League, and we would have one person score points at a Patriot League meet. Now, we’re much more competitive, and I think that our senior class has been great. [Horner’s] breaking records, I’m breaking records, Cole already has a ton of records, Owen has been running very well.”
Eisner described what it’s like to break records alongside his teammates.
“It’s really special to be breaking the school records while there’s other people doing it too. It makes it seem way more achievable. I was really happy for [Horner] because I was warming up for my race, and then I saw [him] break the 800 record. Then I ran over to him and that made it just a lot easier to go out and see that was possible to do,” Eisner said.
At the end of the day, Horner’s message for the future of Colgate track is to be patient with times and records and enjoy the experiences along the way.
“What I advise my teammates is whatever happens, happens,” Horner said. “If you can look yourself in the mirror and look me in the eye afterwards, and you can say ‘I gave it my all,’ that’s all anyone’s ever going to ask of you. The times there and places there are great, but if you can finish a race saying that was your 100 percent and you gave it your all, then usually the time will come.”
