Track & field teams excel at the Patriot Games

This past weekend, the men’s and women’s track and field teams competed in the Patriot Games. This event is hosted annually by George Mason University in the George Mason Fieldhouse. The Blue Jays had several impressive performances over the two days.

This was one of the first major events of the season for Hopkins, and many Blue Jays looked to improve from last season’s performances. Sophomore Therese Olshanski talked about the offseason training the team went through to prepare for the competitive season.

“It’s helped me a lot to be adapted to the training. It was a tough transition from high school training to college, but now I’m able to get into the swing of things quicker than last year. Also, it’s helped to have new people to train with who have pushed me and make practice fun every day,” she said.

To start off the first day, freshman Justin Canedy won first place in the 60-meter dash of the heptathlon, finishing with a time of 7.06 seconds. Adding to his already impressive day, Canedy placed second in the high jump, landing at 2.05 meters, as well as getting third in both long jump and shot put with distances of 6.78 meters and 11.79 meters, respectively.

On the same day, junior Matthew Su won first place in the long jump with a jump of 6.98 meters. He finished just behind his teammate Canedy in the 60-meter dash of the heptathlon, the shot put and the high jump, finishing third, sixth and fifth respectively. 

In the 5,000-meter run, the Blue Jays crushed the competition, claiming first, second and third places. Sophomore Jared Pangallozzi came first with a time of 14:48.09, senior Ollie Hickson followed with 14:50.1 and graduate student Panth Patel ran for a time of 14:56.

For the women’s team, the first day was also full of success. Junior Caelyn Reilly finished in second place in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 16:53.45. This time was a personal best for her. Senior Ellie Clawson also finished in the top five with a time of 17:26.95.

Senior Maya Hammonds placed first in the high jump with a height of 1.56 meters. She also got third place in the shot put with a distance of 8.45 meters, as well as fourth place in the long jump with a distance of 4.86 meters. To cap off her brilliant day, she finished third in the 800-meter run of the pentathlon with a time of 2:33.63.

Sophomore Annie Gutierrez also had a tremendous day, securing fourth in the high jump, fourth in the shot put, fifth in long jump and fifth in the 800-meter run of the pentathlon. 

On the second day, the Blue Jays showed no signs of slowing down. Canedy continued his previous success, getting second in the 60-meter hurdles, second in the high jump, fourth in the 1,000-meter run and third in the pole vault. He ended the heptathlon with 4,904 points, the third highest score in all of Division-III this season.

Other Blue Jays in the heptathlon found success as well. Junior Matthew Su and freshman Mitchell Porter both got several top five placements overall in the heptathlon, finishing in fourth and fifth place, respectively. 

The Blue Jays scored second place in the distance medley with a team consisting of junior Jack Armand, sophomore John Brown, senior Alex Condotti and junior Ted Oh. The four finished with a time of 10:31.88.

Senior Alex Mollick also placed fourth in the 60-meter dash and fifth in the 500-meter dash.

For the women’s team, Olshanski led the way with a first-place finish in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:19.00, though she had to overcome some adversity to achieve it.

“There was this girl elbowing me the whole race, so it felt great to beat her. It’s also not often that I get to lead a race, so it was good experience pacing the laps,” she said. 

Senior Erin Brush also finished second in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:19.55. 

In the distance medley relay, the team finished in third place with a time of 12:03.06. The team consisted of Brush, sophomore Ariel Keklak, Olshanski and freshman Ashley Tyburski. 

Looking ahead, Olshanski has high hopes for the rest of the season.

“I want to run a season best in the mile that prepares me to run even faster at Boston the following Friday [after the NYU Invitational this weekend],” Olshanski said.

Keklak finished the 1000-meter run in third with a time of 3:03.64, and junior Lauren Jacob got second place in the 3000-meter run with a time of 10:32.21.

Finishing off her performance from the first day, Hammonds finished third in the 800-meter run, fifth in the 60-meter hurdles, first in the high jump, fourth in the long jump and third in the shot put, placing her in third overall in the pentathlon.

Canedy was awarded his second consecutive indoor field athlete of the week award in the Centennial Conference for his second overall finish in the heptathlon. Reilly’s impressive first day also helped her win Centennial Conference track athlete of the week. 

Next on the Blue Jays’ schedule is the NYU Invitational on Friday, Feb. 1.