Catholic University Has Successful Return To the Track
Catholic University had a successful return to the track in its first meet after winter break. They hosted the meet in Prince George’s County, Maryland.
Catholic University athletes, both men and women, set several personal records in the meet. The meet was largely used by the athletes and coaches for the Cardinal to shake off the dust from the long winter break. Do you think the Cardinals will have a successful second half of the winter track season?
Catholic University Track Meet Summary
The track meet for Catholic University took place in Prince George’s County in Landover, Maryland, at the PG Sports and Learning Complex. The Cardinal Track & Field Classic opened up the 2026 season. There were several personal bests and outstanding performances.
In Men’s Track, freshman Michael Brunet was fourth place overall in the mile and was the first-place Division III runner with a time of 4:28.63. Meanwhile, junior Joey Locke collected a new personal best with his seventh-place finish out of 32 runners. He finished with a time of 4:38.36.
Calvin Hernandez finished seventh in the 60-meter preliminaries with a time of 7.14. His teammate Romell Randolph was eighth with a time of 7.16. In the finals, Hernandez finished sixth with a time of 7.09, while Randolph finished in eighth with a time of 7.17.
In the men’s hurdles, Nathan Chaney had a personal best in the 60-meter with a time of 9.06. Meanwhile, Gabe Devaney had a time of 53.76 in the 400 meters and placed eighth out of 22 competitors.
In the field events, Adrian Villatoro, a sophomore at Catholic University, finished in first place in the long jump with a new personal best. His 6.30m jump is good for seventh overall in the Catholic record books. Teammate Brandon Hancock was fifth out of 17 athletes with a jump of 5.77m. Quinn Brubaker also went into the Catholic University record books with a high jump of 1.85m. He was second in the meet and fifth overall for the program.
Freshman Benjamin Warr got a personal best in the weight throw with a distance of 10.61 meters, and junior Warren Gillis also threw a new personal best of 9.72 meters. Alex Saunders placed ninth in shot put with a throw of 12.27m.
For the women, Mia McConnell was third overall, first for Division III runners, with her time of 1:01.34 in the 400m. Teammate Alicia Vo collected a personal best with a time of 1:03.35. She was seventh.
McConnell was also good in the 200-meter race. She had a personal best time of 27.16. She was 12th out of 46 runners.
Laurel McMahon raced a new personal best of 5:16.75, which was the 10th-best mile in Catholic University history. She was sixth overall and was the third Division III finisher. Teammate Olivia Sobkowicz was just behind her in seventh place with a time of 5:20.11.
In the sprints, Edith Tomasek and Mia McConnell both ran the same time of 9.78 seconds in the preliminaries of the 60-meter hurdles. They were sixth and seventh, respectively, in the prelims of the 60m hurdles. Tomasek placed seventh in the finals with a time of 10.00, while McConnell followed in eighth place with a time of 10.05.
The women’s 4×400, composed of Vo, Riley Walsh, Lauryn Pearson, and Rachel Sprauer, placed sixth overall with a time of 4:18.13. Erin Buckley finished eighth in the preliminaries. The junior was seventh with a time of 8.15 seconds in the finals of the event.
In the field events, sophomore Kate Quashne had the longest jump for Catholic University with a long jump of 4.84 meters, which was good for a seventh-place finish. The jump was the ninth-longest in program history. Lauryn Pearson was just a hair shorter with a jump of 4.8 meters. She was fourth in the high jump with her jump of 1.52 meters.
Frequently Asked Questions
The most valuable player for Catholic University, like during the cross country season, was Burnet. For the women, it was McMahon. Next, both the men and the women will travel to the Coach I Invite held by Franklin & Marshall on Saturday, Jan. 24. The meet is set to begin at 9:30 a.m. in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Parting Shots
The head coach of Track and Field at Catholic University, Steve Rahn, said all of the track meets before the championships are just training. This meet, hosted by Catholic University, was no different, though there were several outstanding performances.
