Track gets ready for Penn Relays

The Hopkins track and field team traveled to Chester, Pa. last weekend to compete at the Widener Invitational.

There was no team score, but many individuals performed quite well, breaking previous personal bests across the board.

As coach Bobby Van Allen commented, "As we wind down the season,
everyone is coming along very well. The hard work that we have put in
over the entire year is starting to pay off, and we look for a very
strong showing at our conference championships, where I'll be looking
for everyone to step it up one more notch and show their true
character."

On the women's side of the meet, freshman Ilolochika Emuh placed second
in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.89, narrowly missing her
best for the season at only .07 seconds faster. Sophomore Hannah
Bracken returned to action, running the fastest 400 meter time of the
year for Hopkins, placing 12th of 25 in the 400-meter dash with a
season best time of 1:03.94. Sophomore Maureen Kimsey finished 16th of
43 in the 1,500-meter run with a personal season record of 5:08.17. Van
Allen said "[Maureen] works so hard in practice every single day, and
it's nice to see her rewarded by running such a great race."

Senior Sarah Pesek had a personal record in the 5K, running 21:57. Van
Allen commented on how she "steamed down the last 200 meters in 45
seconds. I was happy to see Sarah break 22 minutes, as she has pushed
through injuries and hard pool workouts. She deserved to run that
well."

Ly-Lan Wisler finished third in the 10K, outkicking a conference
opponent from Bryn Mawr to finish in 40:29. Senior Kathy Darling won
both the discus and javelin for the fourth time in five meets this
season, posting a season-best of 144.38 ft. in the javelin and 153.99
ft. in the discus.

The men's performances were dominated by senior Quinlan Amos, who
finished in the top 10 in three separate events. He was fourth in the
200-meter dash, breaking a school record and a Centennial Conference
record (previously held by rival Chavaun Johnson of Dickinson) with a
time of 21.81, beating his own record of 22.07 that he set at the
University of Maryland Invitational. This was only .01 seconds off the
NCAA qualifying time and is the eighth fastest time in the nation.

Amos also finished the 100-meter dash in fifth place with a time of 10.97 and 10th in the long jump with a mark of 19.38.

Freshman Andrew Bauerschmidt set a personal record in the 1,500-meter
run with a time of 4:25.5. Senior John Onofrey finished 16th of 48
runners in the 5,000-meter run with a season best of 15:19.81, dropping
21 seconds from his previous time.

Van Allen commented, "John is peaking nicely in his senior year and
should be ready to earn a top three finish at the conference
championships."

Freshman Gabe Tonkin dropped over 10 seconds in the 5,000 meter run as
well, breaking the freshman record previously held by teammate Nick
Sousa, to finish in 16:06.23. Van Allen expects Tonkin to break 16
minutes at championships. Freshman Shane Olaleye came in 17th of 34 in
the 400-meter dash with a season best of 52.93, and senior David Couson
finished third in the 10,000 meter run with a time of 34:29.88.

Freshman Tai Kobayashi had a season best of 6'0", placing him sixth in
the high jump. The men's 4x400 relay team finished fifth of twelve
schools with their season best of 3:31.47.

The next event the Blue Jays will compete in is the Penn Relays held at UPenn this Thursday and Friday.