Although this weekend’s Columbia Last Chance Meet in New York City was not a team meet for Hopkins, the Blue Jays still left their mark with several impressive individual performances.
Both the men’s and women’s teams sent just a handful of runners to New York to try their hand against some stiff Division I competition. The women would line up with the likes of Villanova, Virginia, UConn and Georgetown, while the men would face off alongside Columbia, Syracuse and Providence.
Hopkins’s men’s team sent four runners, two of which are seniors. The team’s standout performer of the day was senior Brandon Hahn who broke the indoor mile school record with a fast-pace of 4:19.20. Dominic Callon of Providence took first place with a time of 4:00.30.
The Jays also sent senior Elliot Wehner, sophomore Ben Press and freshman Steve Hyland to race in the 800-meter. Wehner ran in 1:55.85 to finish 24th, while Press and Hyland came in 32nd and 33rd, respectively.
On the women’s side, the Lady Jays competed in three events on the weekend: freshman Lara Shegoski ran the 5000-meter, a quartet of ladies ran the distance medley relay which included senior Elizabeth Laseter and sophomore Annie Monagle who doubled in the 800-meter race.
Shegoski provisionally qualified for the NCAAs by beating her personal record by over ten seconds, running in 17:37.39. The medley relay of Laseter, Monagle, junior Alison Smith and freshman Maggie Shelton also provisionally qualified for the NCAAs with a season-best time of 12:08.58.
Monagle and Laseter finished in 14th and 16th in the 800, respectively. They return to action this weekend in Columbus, Ohio.
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