Junior Laura Paulsen takes 10th place at Penn Relays

The men's and women's track teams had a busy yet successful run this past weekend. Both teams sent runners to the world famous Penn Relays in Philadelphia, and the Shippensburg Invitational, also in Pennsylvania. Both meets served as a final qualifier before next weekend's Centennial Conference Championships.

For the men at Shippensburg, senior Adam Waddell finished third in the pole vault for the top Hopkins finish on the day with a height of 4.55 meters.

Junior Jonathan Walker placed sixth in the finals of the 200-meter run at 23.17, while Andrew Henry was the top Blue Jay in the 400-meter race at 53.77, good for 17th place.

Sophomore Elliott Wehner placed ninth in the 800-meter run in just under two minutes with a time of 1:59.98. Fellow sophomores Brandon Hahn and Derek Cheng finished back-to-back at seventh and eighth in the 1,500-meter. Hahn ran a 4:08.21, while Cheng finished in 4:08.83. Freshman Mickey Borsellino took 10th place in the 5,000-meter with a time of 18:00.00, and classmate Jacob Kramer earned 14th place with his 110-meter hurdle time of 16.71. Kramer also placed eighth in the 400-meter hurdles at 58.14.

Junior Peter Li took ninth in the shot put with a 14.02 meter throw, and placed ninth in the discus with a 40.24 meter throw. Ted Heron would lead the way for Hopkins in the javelin throw at 45.14 meters.

At the Penn Relays, the men's 4x400-meter relay team consisting of Christopher Tait, Pierre Hage, James Walker and Gordon Mack placed second in the 4x400 meter relay as part of the Pop Haddleton MAC Division, finishing fourth with a time of 3:24.79.

The women's track & field also performed well at the Shippensburg Invitational, highlighted by junior Alexandra McMillan winning the 10,000-meter run for Hopkins in a time of 44:11.86, while her twin sister Nadia came in second at 44:22.42.

Senior captain Paula Osborn started the day off with a third place position in the prelims for the 100 meter dash in a time of 12.78. Osborn also finished fourth in the long jump with a 5.43 meter leap.

Rachel Hogen took home 10th place in the 1,500 meter run with a time of 4:57.54. Teammate Christina Valerio ran a 5:03.04 to place 13th in the same race.

Sophomore Anita Mikkilineni placed seventh in the prelims in the 100 hurdles at 16.55 before eventually finishing eighth in the finals with her time of 16.91. Mikkilineni and freshman Stephanie Amalfe tied in the high jump, both with 1.40 meter jumps. Amalfe would also go on to throw 10.70 meters in the shot put for ninth place, and seventh in the discus at 33.82 meters.

Freshman Kat Baselice placed fifth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, finishing at 12:50.93, and sophomore Logan Ashcraft tied for seventh place in the pole vault after her 2.89 meter vault.

The Lady Jays had six athletes representing at the Penn Relays. The 4x400-meter relay team finished second in the Centennial Conference/MAC division of the event.

The team clocked in at 4:01.88 to place second. Paula Osborn, Jackie Ferguson, Stephanie Chung and Jordan Ireton made up a team that came within .68 seconds of the school record.

Senior Emma Hiza finished 22nd in the college women's division of the 10,000-meter run. Hiza ran the 10,000-meter in a time of 37:58.93.

Junior Laura Paulsen broke the school record in the 5,000-meter run. Paulsen competed in the Olympic developmental division of the 5,000-meter run, placing 10th in a time of 16:50.75, which shattered the previous school record of 17:15.88, which Paulsen set in 2007. Paulsen also broke Katie Doherty's 5,000-meter record from 2003. Doherty set the Centennial Conference record at 16:54 in 2003. Paulsen's time tops the NCAA Division III rankings.