After strong performances at both the Delaware Open and Captains Classic, the Johns Hopkins Men's and Women's Indoor Track and Field teams continued their success on Saturday Jan. 31 at the Widener Invitational in Chester, Pennsylvania.
The invitational, unlike the previous two meets consisted of only Division III teams and included Hopkins' Centennial Conference rivals Muhlenberg and Ursinus.
Although the team as a whole competed well at Widener, sophomore Katie Finnigan was the standout competitor for the Blue Jay women. Finnigan not only placed third in the women's triple jump (9.97 meters) but also finished first in the high jump (1.54 meter).
The men's team also performed strongly in the high jump event. Sophomores Nick Culbertson and Tai Kobayashi jumped for 1.82 meters and 1.77 meters respectively, earning third and fourth place finishes for the Blue Jays.
Junior shot putter Andrea King continued to post great numbers with her throw, which went a distance of 37 feet, 10.75 inches.
King earned a third place finish in the event.
During last week's Captains Classic at Christopher Newport University, King had broken her own two-year old school record of 11.37 meters with a throw of 11.95 meters. Although King failed to break her new women's shot put record at Widener, she once again eclipsed the old record with a throw that went 11.55 meters.
King, who is one of the team's captains, has consistently been at the top of her game this year and is expected to place extremely high at the Conference Championships, which are to take place at the end of the month.
Sophomore Joanna Cohen is looking forward to the Conference Championships but recognizes there is still much work to be done to compete at that level.
"We need to keep doing what we are doing. If we practice hard, we should do well," said Cohen, who competed in both the 200-meter dash and the long jump, placing 16th and 13th respectively.
Megan Clark also competed in the 200-meter race, placing fifth with a time of 29.38.
In the men's 400-meter dash, sophomore Aaron Landgraf tunred in a strong performance with a 10th place overall finish and a win in his heat with a time of 56.10.
Sophomore David Dierker and freshmen James Tang finished first and second in their heats and 13th and 14th overall in the event.
Despite the success at the invitational, the Blue Jays were without a few of their most consistent contributors, with senior captains Aline Bernard and Alex Gochal, as well as sophomore Ilolochika Emuh missing the competition.
Bernard and Emuh both broke school records in the previous meet. Bernard earned sixth place honors in the 5000-meter run with a time of 18:38 while Emuh won third place in the 60-meter hurdle race with a time of 9.80.
Coach Bobby Van Allen rested Bernard at Widener so she could represent Hopkins as one of the few selected to go to the St. Valentine meet at Boston University, which will be held during Valentine's Day weekend. Emuh was sick for the meet but is expected to return for the Jays' next competition.
Gochal, who is confident he will place well in the 800-meter event in the Centennial Conference Championship, was out with an injury but will return before season's end.
On the distance side, senior Anna Stirgwolt, also a co-captain, finished in eigth place with a time of 11:43.19 in the 3000-meter race.
SophomoreAndrew Bauerschmidt was 10th in the 3000-meter run in 9:36.87 to lead the Blue Jays.
In the relay events, the Lady Jays placed fifth in both the 4x160-meter relay and the 4x400-meter relay with times of 1:34.21 ans 4:37.29, respectively.
"Staying healthy is always a big key [in order to race well]," said junior Eric Scrivner. "This year we're going to have to put a little more effort into our training because our facilities have been covered in snow, keeping us from our usual workouts."
