Despite a good start at the Osprey Invitational, the track team was forced to forfeit the meet. By the third event, the once-warm weather grew progressively colder, eventually starting to rain.
Before leaving the meet, the Jays competed in five men's and six women's events against a fleet of schools, including conference foes Ursinus, Swarthmore and Franklin and Marshall. For the men's team in the 10,000 meters, senior Gabe Tonkin took second place and freshman Drew Lefkof took fourth.
"Running the 10,000 meters in that kind of wind and rain was defintely an unpleasant expereince," Tonkin said. "The other 10K runners and I have been feeling beat up all week because of the cold temperatures. Leaving was definitely a good call."
Hopkins also did well in the men's 400-meter hurdles, where senior Sean Morgan took fifth place and sophomore Kyle Azevedo took seventh.
Several field athletes also gave solid performances before the team boarded the busses back to Baltimore. Freshman Peter Li came in fourth place for shot put. In the javelin throw, sophomore Michael Palantoni came in 12th.
For the women's team, Hopkins placed highly in the day's events. Sophomore Jacci Clauss came in second place in the 10,000 meters.
Heavy rain and strong winds picked up halfway through the 10,000 meters, forcing the majority of the Blue Jays to relocate inside the Richard Stockton gymnasium.
The Blue Jays also took second in the 4 x 100-meter relay with senior Johanna Cohen, junior Giselle Joseph, sophomore Jessica Reeves and freshman Meagan Detrani carrying the baton.
In field, the Lady Jays competed in the high jump and javelin. For the high jump, sophomores Jessica Reeves and Julie Blumreiter tied for sixth place. For the javelin throw, sophomore Chantel Priolo took third place and senior Liz Krimmel came in fourth.
Next Wednesday, April 19, the Blue Jays will take to the track at the McDaniel Twilight Meet, an evening of competition added to their schedule in order to make up for the lost meet in New Jersey.
The following Friday and Saturday, they will again travel north, this time to Pennsylvania for the Widener Invitational, a meet the athletes look forward to every spring.
"There's really good competition at Widener and they also have great facilities," Tonkin said. "A ton of people get personal best marks every time."
