The men and women of track and field had a strong showing Jan. 25 at the Joe Donahue Games in Northeastern University’s Reggie Lewis Center, with the men placing first and the women placing fourth. Both teams continued their success at the Terrier Invitational held Jan. 26 at Boston University.
Head Coach Tim Springfield acknowledged the end of January and February as an important time for the teams.
“That’s when the mentality shifts from preparation to actually performing and competing,” Springfield said. “We’re looking forward to get out there at a major level competition.”
At the Reggie Lewis Center, Zach Keefer ’13 placed first in the 500-meter with a time of 1 minute, 6.5 seconds. Co-captain Kenny Thompson ’13 took second place in the triple jump with a jump of 14.22 meters.
“The two weekends previous have been more low-key meets that are more to get the rust off and get a feel for competing again,” Thompson said. “This was a really impressive weekend for us.”
Anthony Mazola ’16 and Julian Jiggetts ’16 also contributed competitive performances. Mazola ran two solid races, placing second in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.02 seconds, and first in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.93 seconds. Jiggetts placed third in the 400-meter dash, clocking in at less than 51 seconds.
“It’s great to see upperclassmen performing at a high level this early in the season,” said Thompson. “It’s even better to see the younger guys making huge strides.”
For the women, Lily Harrington ’16 debuted in the mile run with a time of 5:06, earning second place. Elaine Kuckertz ’13 finished just behind Harrington for third.
Jocelyn West ’13 and Morayo Akande ’16 finished in the top four in the high jump, clearing 1.65 meters and 1.60 meters, respectively.
At the Terrier Invitational, John Spooney ’14 placed eighth in the 200-meter dash, finishing with a time of 21.60 seconds. Henry Tufnell ’15 earned ninth with a 1:53.10 finish in the 800-meter run. Erik Berg ’13 finished 11th in the one mile run with a personal record time of 4:03.93.
“We’ve been training really hard,” Berg said. “If one person does well, everybody feeds off that.”
Bree Shugarts ’13 finished sixth in the mile run with a time of 4:53.61, while Olivia Mickle ’13 finished eighth in the 3,000-meter run with 9:41.91. Alexandra Stanton ’15 claimed ninth place in the 400, and Sasha Teninty ’14 and Tess Plant-Thomas ’13 both finished in the top 20 of the 800.
“Going into competition this weekend, the team was positive and excited,” Mickle said. “Both meets this weekend offered great competition and opportunities to compete at a high level early in the season.”
Both squads are preparing for their next meet in Kingston, R.I., while keeping an eye on the upcoming conference championship meet, the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships.
“We had really good marks across the board against very good competition,” Thompson said. “We’re four weeks away from HEPS, so this is the time when everything starts coming together.”
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