Jays Track readies for Widener

The Johns Hopkins Women's and Men's Track and Field teams are off to a good start for the season after placing well in their first three meets. The two teams competed at the Captain's Classic at Christopher Newport University this past Friday and Saturday. This meet gave the Blue Jays a chance to compete against some top notch Division I schools, as well as many high caliber Division III schools.

Highlighting the meet for Hopkins were senior Aline Bernard and sophomore Ilolochika Emuh. Both girls broke schools records in their respective events, with Bernard finishing sixth overall in the 5k with a time of 18:38. In the 60-meter hurdles Emuh ran 9.80, to win third in the D-III final. Both girls look to improve upon these times and contend for top three finishes at the Centennial Conference Championships later this winter.

"We've had a good start to our indoor season and we have a lot of talent that should help us in all of the events," said Bernard. "I went into the 5k race thinking that breaking the record was kind of a long shot but it felt great."

On the second day of competition, junior Andrea King finished 4th place overall with a throw of 38'8.75" in the shot put competition. King appears to be the favorite for next month's conference championships. Sophomore Gloria Vasconcellos and senior Andy Myers both had impressive showings in their heats. Vasconcellos finished second in her heat of the 1500-meters with a time of 5:25, while Myers won his heat in a time of 4:22.83 for the 1500-meters.

One of the weekend's best performances of the meet came from sophomore Shane Olaleye, who ran the 800 meters in 2:07, and had great relay performances in both the men's distance medley relay and the 4x400, where he split 51.8 for 400-meters.

The men and women's teams started the indoor season at the 2003 Dickinson Invitational on Dec. 12. The Blue Jays scored 69 points to finish fifth in a field of nine. Hopkins finished second among the five Centennial Conference schools that competed. Dickinson won the meet, followed closely by Masnfield and Shippensburg.

Senior Alex Gochal placed first in the 1000-meter run with a time of 2:43.26. "I'm very pleased with the race and I'm exciated for the prospects of placing high at the conference championships," said Gochal. "I hope that my training pays off with a top finish in the 800."

The fleet-footed Gochal was also a member of the 4x400-meter relay team, which placed second with a time of 3:35.79.

"It was the fasest time a Hopkins relay has run this early in the season," said Gochal. "We're hopefull that our success continues, and we're looking forward to setting new school records."

Joining Gochal on the relay team were Olaleye, Sophomore Aaron Landgraf and Freshman Brian Giglio. Olaleye earned a second-place finish in the 500-meter dash with a time of 1:09.60. His time was less than one second away from the Hopkins record in the event. Lendgraf placed fourth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 55.60 and Giglio's time of 2:08.62 earned him sixth in the 800-meter run. Senior Dan MacNeil closed out the Blue Jays' top five finishers as he placed fourth in the 1000-meter run with a time of 2:43.26.

On the women's side, King broke her own school record in the shot put with a throw of 11.95 meters. King had previously set the school record with a toss of 11.37 meters in 2001. The Lady Jays accumulated 88 points and were the top Centennial Conference team among the five competing.

Freshman Nana Forson placed second in the shot put with a throw of 10.78 meters. Sophomore Katie Finegan had a pair of top three finishes as she placed second in the triple jump at 10.6 meters and tied for third in the high jump with 1.43 meters.

Senior Megan Carr managed to finish in fourth place in the pole vault competition (2.59 meters) and sophomore Joanna Cohen placed eighth in the long jump with 4.53 meters. Cohen added a sixth-place finish in the 55-meter dash with a time of 7.92. Freshman Megan Clarke finished second in the 500-meter run with a time of 1.28.57.

Bernard and fellow senior Anna Stirgwolt provided a solid one-two punch in the 3000-meter run as Bernard placed fourth with a time of 11:06 and Stirgwolt was sixth with a time of 11:16. "We are excited about our performances this season and how we're stacking up against the competion," said Stirgwolt. "We plan on having a great season and looking at our team we know that this program will be getting stronger every year."