The men's and women's track teams had several strong finishes in their events at the Muhlenberg Invitational last weekend. Many members had noticeably better performances than at their previous invitationals, with several first- and second-place wins.
The girls were led by junior sprinter Paula Osborn, who placed second in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes, with times of 12.71 and 26.30 seconds, respectively.
Junior Jordan Ireton finished third in the 400-meter dash at 1:01.43, up from 11th place in the 800-meter event at the University of Maryland Terrapin Invitational the previous week.
"The team had a great showing," Ireton said. "We didn't do anything different to prepare other than continue to work hard at practice, and that's going to be our game plan throughout the season."
The men's team followed suit, with junior Peter Li claiming the top spot in the discus throw and second place in the shot put, launching the ball 13.84 meters. Senior Tristan Thomas was also at the top of the lot in his event - the 200-meter dash - notching a time of 22.33 seconds.
Sophomores Jonathan Walker and Pierre Hage followed right behind Thomas with sixth and 13th place finishes. Other underclassmen also showed flashes of their promising future on Saturday, including freshman Anita Mikkilineni, who participated in the 100- and 400-meter hurdles.
"I knew Coach [Bobby Van Allen] put me in a lot of events this time so I had to mentally prepare myself more than usual. But more than anything, the motivation from my teammates helped; they didn't let me get too worried about it," Mikkilineni said.
As a result, she earned a time of 16.39 seconds in the preliminaries and 16.29 seconds in the finals of the 100-meter event for a fourth place finish, and Mikkilineni came in third in the 400-meter event, clocking a time of 1:08.93.
"It feels great to contribute to the team," she said. "All the hard work put in is finally paying off. Improving as a freshman is really satisfying because hopefully I'll only see better results from here."
However, for some, a higher finish in the standings didn't necessarily translate into an improvement in their marks compared to former meets.
This was the case for senior Becky Lossing, who posted a first-place finish in the high jump.
"My height in the high jump [at Muhlenberg] was not as good at the Terrapin Invitational. So as it turns out, it was actually more of an off-day in that regard," Lossing said. She placed third at the Terrapin Invitational despite notching a jump more than a 10th of a meter higher than her most recent.
Lossing also came in sixth in the long jump with 4.71 meters and placed 11th in the triple jump. Of the many goals of team, one of them is to take first at the conference championships for both the men and women's teams.
The Jays would also enjoy an upset of Haverford's expected first place finish at Outdoor Conferences. But with track having a major individuality component to the sport as well, there also comes multiple personal goals.
"I would be absolutely thrilled to finish my college career by going to nationals in the high jump, so I'll be working on clearing those last two inches in the meantime," Lossing said.
Junior Adam Waddell is preparing for a decathalon and has adjusted accordingly. "I have been learning new events, as well as trying to improve on my usual events and continuing to become a better track athlete," Waddell said.
The Jays' next meet is the Widener Invitational on the weekend after next in Chester, Pa.
