The men and women’s track teams had back-to-back successful weekends, despite the recent unsavory weather conditions. The Pioneer women and men ran at home at the Dick Young Classic on April 21st.
“Both teams did really well, which isn’t surprising. We usually rise to the occasion when we’re at home and we only have one home meet. We had a lot of students officiating, so they were there to support the team as well,” Head Coach Evelyn Freeman said.
Sarah Burnell ’14 performed especially well at the Dick Young Classic. She won several events, and her accomplishments earned her the title of Midwest Conference Women’s Track Performer of the Week.
“One highlight was Sarah Burnell in the 1500. She came within a second of the school record, so she won by a lot. She was also on the women’s 4×400 winning team and she placed 3rd in the 800, so she was the Midwest conference running athlete of the week last week,” Freeman said.
The women’s relay teams were also very successful at the meet.
“Our women’s 4×100 team did really well and placed second. We won the 4×400, which is the last event of the meet, which is always a nice way to finish off. And we broke the school record in the women’s 4×400,” Freeman said.
The men’s team accomplished a great deal at the Dick Young Classic, as well.
“The men won the Dick, and the women got second, so those were our highest places of the year. It was a small meet, but I think everyone ran their best times that weekend. Both the 4×400 relays won, which is probably the first time that’s happened in a long time,” Captain Eric Ragan ’12 said.
Jake Lindstrom ’14 also had a personal best in the pole vault that day and won it with a height of 14 feet. Gavin Warnock ’14 had a personal record in the long jump with a distance of 6.76 meters.
Both the women and men’s teams competed and had success at the Loras Invitational this past weekend on April 28th.
On the women’s side, Jordan Young ’14 broke the school record for the hammer throw with a distance of 132-10, earning her 4th place in the event. Freeman has been impressed by both Young and Heather Kubicek ’12 throughout the season.
“Had Jordan not been on the team, Heather would be holding the school record. Every week they throw, they increase their distance,” Freeman said.
Other women had successful events, including Burnell and Diana Seer ’15. Burnell ran her best time of the season in the 800 with a 2:15.91. Seer ran her first 3000-meter steeple-chase and placed second in the meet, now ranking third on Grinnell’s all time list.
On the men’s side, Zack Angel ’15 and Ian McCallum-Cook ’12 ran their best times of the season in the 800, finishing at 2:00.73 and 2:00.97, respectively and earning them 6th and 7th place in the event. Sam Krauth ’14 also ran 4:07.58 in the 1500, his best time of the season. Gavin Warnock ’14 had a personal record in the long jump (22-03) to win the event.
Both Captain Isabelle Miller ’13 and Coach Evelyn Freeman were satisfied with the results of the meet considering the weather conditions.
“We were really happy at Loras to have so many personal bests and wins despite the conditions. We just wanted to do our best and make the trip worthwhile, even though it was raining half the time,” Freeman said.
Upcoming meets include the Monmouth Invitational and the Midwest Conference Championships. The Monmouth Meet will be the Pioneers’ first chance to compete against other teams in the Midwest Conference before championships.
“It’s a good preview for conference because you get an idea of the competition. Also, Monmouth is always really good, so it’s good competition,” Miller said.
The Pioneers are looking to fine tune their events and improve seed placements at Monmouth before conference championships.
“It’s supposed to be really nice [weather], so I think everyone’s going to run really fast times to get seeded higher for conference,” Ragan said.
Both captains are hopeful that the men and women’s relays will run well at conference. The men’s team hopes to medal both relays, and the women hope to win the 4×400.
“In indoor, we got second in the 4×400, and we’ve been running a lot better, so we definitely want to try and win it, and go under four minutes which would be really exciting,” Miller said of the women’s relay.
“We’re really focusing on relays this weekend, and getting our top people running together. It’s sort of our dress rehearsal for conference,” said Coach Evelyn Freeman.
The Pioneers will compete in the Monmouth Invitational this weekend on May 5. They are also preparing for the Midwest Conference Championships, taking place on May 11 in De Pere, WI.
