Freshman Casey Blythe battles it out against one of his tough Red Devil opponents.

Three Jays represent track team in multi-event meet

By: Jeremy Selbst

Posted: 4/24/08

The Hopkins men's and women's track and field teams entered a combined three athletes into the Messiah Multi-Event Meet in Grantham, Penn. last Sunday, April 13. Kathy Horn, Adam Waddell and Devin McDermott all had strong performances, finishing fifth, third and eighth respectively.

"Success on the track team requires a personal commitment to improvement," senior Allyson Segar said. "No one does it without the help of their teammates. The support system is incredible."

Freshman Logan Ashcraft's statements echoed those of Segar's, "It's interesting; we're a group of individuals specializing in every even from the steeplechase to the pole vault, yet we remain extremely close. The time commitment is huge, but we stick it out because we're running for each other; not for ourselves or our coaches."

The support system was certainly evident at the Messiah Meet, as none of the three competing athletes failed to make bold impressions in their particular events. Kathy Horn, a junior, scored 3,360 points to receive the fifth place spot in the heptathlon, an event that features five distinct parts (the high jump, shot put, 200-meter run, javelin and 800-meter run). Horn was able to receive her fifth place finish in the pool of 15 via a 1.39-meter high jump, an 8.36-meter long shot put, and a time of 29.17 seconds in the 200-meter dash on day one of the competition.

Horn's day two statistics were also impressive as she posted a 31.40-meter mark in the javelin throw and a time of 2:38.08 in the 800-meter run. Adam Waddell entered personally uncharted waters by competing in the decathlon over the weekend, having never competed in the event. Waddell's inexperience proved to be a non-issue however, as the junior scored an impressive 6,049 points over the two-day spread - leading him to a third-place overall finish.

The 6,049 points behind Waddell's name also added the junior to the Hopkins history books, as he became the first Hopkins's athlete to break the 6,000-point mark in the decathlon. The 6,049 points in the junior's first showing in the decathlon not only set a new school record, but with the score he also reached the NCAA Championship Provisional Qualifying Mark.

On day one of two Waddell finished third in the 100-meter dash in a time of 11.56 seconds and reached a height of 6.28 meters in the high jump, which was good enough for a second place finish in the event. Waddell's day-one exploits also include a second place in the shot put (11.31m). Day two was equally impressive for Waddell, as he reached a height of 4.35 meters in the pole vault and finished the 110-meter hurdles in a time of 17.67 seconds. Waddell failed to finish below fourth in a field of 11 in any of the events he competed in. Despite Waddell's acclaim, he was not the only Hopkins athlete to compete well in the decathlon.

Fellow junior Devin McDermott had also had a strong showing, finishing eighth and tallying 4,606 points over the course of the weekend. McDermott's performance included a long jump of 5.91 meters and a shot put distance of 11.08 meters on day one. Day two for McDermott included a javelin throw of 38.15 and a time of 5:13.00 in the 1,500-meter run.

Hopkins's men's and women's track teams will have a larger showing at the upcoming meets, as this one was only for a few specific athletes who specialize in the above events.