Catholic University 2026 Winter Track Team Impresses At Widener Indoor Classic

Kevin Sweeney
Delone Catholic's Samantha Bealmear runs the 2A 800m run at the PIAA District 3 Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg University's Seth Grove Stadium Saturday, May 17, 2025. Catholic University did not run in this meet.

Catholic University had yet another track meet peppered by personal and season bests. The outing was particularly impressive because the Catholic University track team was led by underclassmen. This was particularly the case with a few freshmen who set new personal bests.

Catholic University traveled to the Widener Indoor Classic in Chester, Pennsylvania. The Cardinals had two track meets last weekend. With one this weekend, this is a busy period for the athletes. Do you think the busy schedule will hurt the Catholic University athletes?

Catholic University at the Widener Indoor Classic

There were a variety of Personal and season bests for the Catholic University Athletes.

Men

We should start on the track, where the men did a good job. In the mile race, Catholic University did very well. Junior David Stango had the best time for Catholic University. In the mile, he got a new personal best, with a time of 4:30.28. Freshman Tim Sweeney also got a new personal best and won his heat with a time of 4:32.17.

Sophomore Shane Waring was the third to earn a new personal best with a time of 4:45.96. Junior Joshua Leon ran a season’s best with a time of 4:55.59.

Also on the track, Sean Owens recorded a season best in the 400-meter with a time of 51.47. Emmanuel Olarewaju followed with a season-best 52.30. Marcp Indelicato was the third Catholic University runner in the race with a time of 52.57. In the 4×400 relay, Indelicato, Augustine Howard, Peter Winter, and Kendrick DuPree ran a time of 3:24.77.

There was yet more success for Catholic University. Winter got an excellent time of 1:56.01 in the 800 meters and placed 8th out of 44 athletes. In the 200-meter race, Sophomore Romell Randolph sprinted to a time of 22.38. Freshman Michael Brunet recorded a personal best in the 3000 meters with a time of 8:42.79. Senior Joey Locke ran a time of 9:05.16.

In the long jump, Freshman James Varellas jumped 11.67 meters. He put the shot 11.94 meters. Another freshman, Caden Lopez, threw the weight 12.63 meters. His teammate, Mark Enamorado, threw 12.01 meters.

Women

The women were equally impressive. On the track, freshman Olivia Sobkowicz got a new personal best in the 3000 meters with a time of 10:30.82. Bridgid Cavanaugh got a new personal best in the mile with a time of 5:20.24. Erin Roche also ran a personal best with a time of 5:33.87. They are freshmen as well. Are you noticing a theme?

Junior Mia McConnell was the fastest Cardinal in the 400-meter race. She recorded a time of 1:00.13. Junior Zoey Brown logged a season best 1:01.95. Junior Alicia Vo earned a personal best with her run of 1:02.16.

Sophomore Kortney Clipper highlighted the day for the Cardinals by setting a school record in the 200-meter sprint with a time of 25.86. She became the first sprinter in program history to break 26 seconds in the event. Also in a sprint, Lauryn Pearson ran a personal best of 9.60 in the 60-meter hurdles preliminary race. In the 60-meter dash preliminaries, junior Erin Buckley got a season-best time of 8.03. Clipper ran a time of 8.12.

Mya Sampong, Cavanaugh, Kate Hannan, and Roche all participated in the 800-meter. Half earned personal bests. Sampong earned a personal best with a time of 2:26.99. Cavanaugh tallied a time of 2:30.19. Hannan earned a personal best of 2:33.27. Roche raced a time of 2:39.30.

In the 200 meters, senior Sarah Schumacher ran 27.07. The women’s 4×400 relay team, consisting of McConnell, Brigid Byrnes, Brown, and Vo, placed sixth out of sixteen teams with a time of 4:01.60. That was the second-best time in program history.

In the high jump, Pearson reached 1.50 meters, and Junior Edith Tomasek jumped 1.45 meters. Freshman Carile Walsh put the shot 9.93 meters. Freshman Maggie McNulty threw a weight 13.61 meters. She was 15th out of 50 competitors.

Parting Shots

If there is one thing to notice about the results in this meet, it is that many of the great Catholic University times were recorded by underclassmen and, especially, freshmen. Indeed, there is a great future for Catholic University in track and field.

Kevin Sweeney is a published author. He is the author of 7 books. He has written an autobiography, a book on stroke recovery, one on presidential politics, and four on sports. Kevin has a Ph.D. in political science; he has published 12 scholarly articles. He lives in Purcellville, VA, with his 3 sons and wife, Kelly. They were married in 2000.

You can get his books here:
https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/bookshelf