The coaches for both the men's and women's track team had been running the team ragged the past few weeks in practice and were not sure how the team would respond during this past weekend's meet.
"Considering the intensity of our workouts the last couple of weeks, for them to come out while we are still working pretty hard in practices and perform the way they did was a pleasant surprise," head coach Bobby Van Allen said.
Maybe the hard practices were just what the team needed, as both the men's and women's track teams had an excellent day at Ursinus College on Saturday, as both teams took first place at the Frank Colden Invitational.
The men finished first out of 18 teams with 108 points, while the women finished first out of 16 teams with a score of 115 points. This meet, the fifth of the season for both the men's and women's teams, featured colleges from Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
"I certainly was proud of everyone," Van Allen said. "It's always nice to finish first. I don't think that's what we were trying to do, we're still at this point in our season where we're not really stacking meets or having anyone run four or five races, we're still just trying to improve everyone's individual marks."
The men were led by strong performances in the field events. Junior Adam Waddell broke his own school record in the pole vault, finishing in second place in the event with a jump of 4.5 meters (14 feet, 9 inches). The jump was good enough to qualify Waddell for the ECAC tournament. He was followed in third place by fellow junior Matt Trachtenberg, who finished with a jump of 13 feet, 9.25 inches.
"Since I joined the team only two days prior to the meet, I didn't have much time to prepare" Waddell said. "I was really happy with my performance, but I would definitely like to improve on my mark."
In the shot put, junior Peter Li came in first place out of 33 opponents with a throw of 45 feet, 6 inches, more than a foot farther than the second-place finisher.
In the long jump, senior Chris Cottrell finished sixth in the men's long jump with a jump of 6.23 meters, his longest jump in a meet this season.
The women's team also had a set of very strong performances
in the field events. Senior Becky Lossing led the way for Hopkins with three personal bests for the season.
Lossing tied for second in the high jump with fellow Blue Jay senior Jessica Reeves with a height of 1.52 meters, a season high for both. She also placed fourth in both the long jump with a distance of 4.84 meters, and the triple jump, with a distance of 9.54 meters.
"I was beyond excited to have done well in this past meet," Lossing said, "especially since I have been working hard in practice and lifting. I am most excited for my high jump performance because my form is finally starting to click."
Reeves also came in first place in the women's pole vault, clearing the bar with a height of 2.90 meters, tying her season best mark.
The Blue Jay sprinters and distance runners certainly contributed to the wins as well.
For the men, senior Tristan Thomas had a great showing as he placed fourth in the men's 55-meter dash with a time of 6.65 seconds, while also placing seventh in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.72 seconds.
Hopkins then placed sprinters Brahma Kumar, Cornelius Queen and Christo Tait in fourth, fifth and sixth respectively with times of 53.38, 54.12 and 54.21 seconds.
Sophomore Nate Sotuyo placed fourth out of 45 competitors in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:00.13, while the Jays also took four of the top nine spots in the one-mile run, led by sophomore Graham Belton's second place finish with a time of 4:28.30. In the 3,000-meter run, sophomore Noah Jampol finished sixth with a run of 9:05.64.
On the women's side sprinters Paula Osborn and Jessica Reeves finished fifth and sixth in the 55-meter dash with times of 7.70 seconds and 7.71 seconds respectively. Osborn would also place sixth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 28.48 seconds.
In the 55-meter hurdles, freshman Mikkileneni ran a season best 9.33 seconds, good enough for fourth place. Junior Jordan Ireton then won the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:01.32, outracing her next closest opponent by a second.
The women's distance runners also contributed to Hopkins's string of high finishes. Freshman Kit Harris placed third in the 800-meter run with a time of with a time of 2:29.55. Junior Rachel Hogen then won the one mile run, besting the other 27 runners with a time of 5:20.37.
The relay teams for both the men's and women's sides performed strongly. For the men the 4x400-meter relay team of Tait, Gordon Mack, Pierre Hage and Brahma Kumar crossed the line in 3:32.40 to finish second, narrowly missing first place Rutgers-Camden by 0.68 seconds.
For the women, the 4x200-meter relay team of Reeves, Osborn, Ireton and Mikkilineni finished in second place with a time of 1:52.21, qualifying them for the ECAC Tournament. Also qualifying for ECACs was the 4x800-meter team of Ireton, Kit Harris, Elizabeth Laseter and Martina Dodd. They finished in 10:07.88 good for second place, missing out on first by 0.12 seconds.
"This was the second time the relay had run together, and I was excited to see that everyone ran the race more aggressively than the first time," Ireton said. "We work well together as a team, and I can't wait to continue racing with them."
Despite these close second place finishes, the men's and women's teams were both extremely happy with their performances at the meet.
"My teammates, captains and coaches have been very encouraging, so I'm glad to contribute to our team's first place finish in the meet," Lossing said.
"Last year we came in third," Mack said. "So it was a great improvement. Our team as a whole has continued to get better over the past recent years. And we are confident that this year and the next upcoming years will be the best seasons Hopkins track and field has had in a long time."
The men's and women's track teams will take to the track again on Friday at the Boston University Valentine Invitational.
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