Catholic University Holds First Winter Track Meet Of Season In Virginia Beach
Catholic University had its first winter track meet of the season in Virginia Beach today. It is their only winter track meet in December as they are going on break. There are too many events in track and field to list them all. Instead of being comprehensive, this article will hit the highlights for Catholic University. There were several. There were 14 teams in the meet, which was called Marlins 1st Chance.
The teams were Barton College, Bryant & Stratton College, Catholic University, Gallaudet University, George Washington University, Mary Washington University, The University of Maryland-Eastern Shore, Methodist University, Mount Olive University, Richard Bland University, The House, those who were unattached, Virginia Wesleyan University, and Warren Wilson College. Do you think Catholic University will have a good winter track season?
Catholic University Highlights From Marlins’ 1st Chance
There were 12 field events and 26 running events. Here were the Catholic University highlights. In the running events, Joseph Locke was fourth in the men’s 5000 meters with a time of 15:59.54. In the women’s 5000-meter race, Catholic University had two runners in the top four.
Olivia Sobkowicz was third with a program record with a time of 17:40.93, and Laurel McMahon was fourth. She also rewrote the Catholic record books in the 5000-meter. The junior raced a time of 18:06.51, placing herself as the third-best performer in program history.
Those were the same two women who qualified for the NCAA National Championships in Cross Country. In the Women’s mile, Bridgid Cavanaugh was fourth. She competed in the one mile in her collegiate debut and finished fourth out of 15 athletes with a time of 5:26.89
In the men’s 60-meter hurdles, Drew Madden was fourth. He also had an impressive debut in the Men’s high jump. In the men’s 800 meters, Catholic University finished first and second with Kendrick DuPree and Peter Winter. They each earned personal bests in the event. DuPree raced to a time of 1:53.80 and entered the program record books as the second-best performer. Winter finished with a time of 1:53.93 and finds himself as the third-best performer in program history.
Alexa Grassi was third in the women’s race. Grassi ran a 2:23.36 in the 800 meters, placing third overall and first for Division III runners. In the Men’s 3000 meters, Michael Brunet came in first in his indoor collegiate debut with a time of 8:59.15. Tim Sweeney, also running his first indoor track and field meet, was fourth with a time of 9:06.03.
In the concluding 4×400 meter race, the Catholic University men were second, and so were the women. The 4×400 team of DuPree, Drew Madden, Emmanuel Olarewaju, and Winter placed second in the event with a time of 3:23.49. The women also did well.
The Cardinals closed out the day with the 4×400 relay. Rachel Sprauer, Kate Hannan, Alicia Vo, and Grassi recorded a time of 4:14.35 and a second-place finish. Those sprints notwithstanding, it is clear that the Cardinals are strongest in the distance events. The 4×400-meter relay is always the last event of track meets.
In the field events, Matt Daley finished third in the Men’s pole vault. In the Women’s high jump, Lauren Pearson was second, and Edith Tomasek was fourth. Pearson also made her college debut with a height of 1.53 meters. In the Men’s high jump, Madden was fourth. Madden is a freshman, and he made his collegiate high jump debut impressively, entering the program record books as the fourth-best performer with a jump of 1.83 meters.
In the Women’s triple jump, Kate Quashne was fourth, and Vo got honorable mention for finishing in fifth place. That was all of the field events in which Catholic University placed in the top four.
Conclusion
Up next, Catholic University will host the Cardinal Track & Field Classic on January 17. It is clear from this first meet that the Cardinals are stronger in the running events in track and field, and stronger in the distance running events. The same stars from the cross-country season reappear.
It will be interesting to see if the Cardinals can improve in the sprints and the field events on January 17. Coach Rahn said, “It was a great season opener with two broken school records, many personal bests, and top 10 performances. Great way to head into the winter break.”
