In the first outdoor competition of the 2017 season, the men and women of the Hopkins track & field team recorded numerous personal bests and Conference-leading times despite the horrific wind conditions, intense rains and tornado warnings that delayed many of the races late into the night.
The transition from indoor to outdoor track is not as easy as some might assume, and to start the season, the Jays faced a lot of strong D-I competition. The Colonial Relays, hosted by the College of William & Mary, was a three-day long competition that kicked off last Thursday, March 30.
“It was a great start to the season, because we got to bring the whole team down to compete,” senior captain Lara Gaffney said. “The point of the meet was to get back into race mode and gauge where the team is at since indoor conferences, which was our last competition all together.”
To start, the Jays kept pace in the distance events with strong D-I competition, making for a challenging race but fast times. Freshman PJ Murray set a new Hopkins record in the 3000-meter, clocking a time of 8:35, which is the third fastest time in the event in program history.
The women’s distance team also documented their share of recording-setting performances on day one. After a breakout cross-country season and a second place finish in the NCAA Championships to top off her indoor season, sophomore Felicia Koerner toed the line for the 10K to start off her outdoor campaign.
Her time off between the indoor and outdoor seasons was evidently well spent, as Koerner crossed the line in 34:27 to set new program and Centennial Conference records. Koerner bettered the previous Hopkins best by a full 15 seconds and this Monday was named the Centennial Conference Athlete of the Week for her efforts. Koerner was joined on the track by classmate Natalia LaSpada; The two currently hold the leading times in D-III.
On day two, senior Jesse Poore highlighted the sprint events for the men’s team, with strong performances in the 200- and 400-meter dashes. Poore handled the rain and wind with ease, cruising under 50 seconds in the 400-meter, less than half a second off his personal best.
For the women, some impressive performances in the earlier half of the day included fast finishes from sophomore Erin Brush and senior Lindsay Cheu in the 800-meter, clocking 2:17 and 2:18, respectively. Likewise, sophomore Tasha Freed led a small flock of Jays in the 3000-meter steeplechase. Freed, who posted a time of 11:04, was followed by seniors Gaffney and Veronica Boswell. Freed’s time currently ranks third in D-III.
Later that day, the meet would be delayed due to tornado warnings. The races scheduled to take place Friday afternoon would not go off until 11 p.m. that night. That included the women’s 1500-meter race.
Despite the delay, all four Hopkins women competing in the event dipped below 4:50, led by junior Caroline Smith and sophomore Gina D’Addario.
After a late night on the track, the Blue Jays were back Saturday morning to finish up the third and final day of competition. Poore, who was accompanied by sophomore Alex Mollick and juniors Zach Shelley and Ilan Rich in the men’s 4x200-meter relay squad, broke the school record, clocking 1:29 in the event.
Meanwhile, on the field, senior Andrew Bartnett had an impressive individual victory in the pole vault championships. He was the only athlete to break the five-meter barrier, recording a height of 5.05, which now ranks second in D-III.
The Blue Jays will make an appearance on the track again this weekend at the George Mason Invitational on Saturday, April 8.
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