The men’s and women’s track and field teams had their meet moved up a day in an attempt to avoid Winter Storm Jonas this past weekend. The Collegeville Classic took place Friday, Jan. 22 at Goucher College, as opposed to Saturday.
The men’s team scored a total of seven points and placed 13th in the meet. First year jumper Tyler Stephenson was the top performer for the men’s team. Stephenson placed seventh in the high jump with a height of 1.75m (5’8-3/4”), scoring two points. In the long jump Stephenson’s farthest jump was 5.78m (18’11”-3/4”), which put him in eighth place and added another point to the men’s score.
Sophomore Mitch Schlegel ran 23.37 in the 200-meter dash. Schlegel placed eighth and scored one point for the Blue Jays.
The men’s 4x400m relay team placed sixth with a time of 3:50.12 for an additional three points. Sophomore Tom Fitzgerald, senior Sam Brooks, junior Michael Twist and Schlegel were the runners for this event.
For the women’s team, first year Karly Deam placed sixth in the pole vault. With her height of 2.29 (7’6”) Deam scored four points for the women’s team and was the top finisher for the Blue Jays.
“We didn’t have many members of the team attend… Overall those who were there did very well in their events” Schlegel said. The Blue Jays “learned to stay serious and compete hard even if the attendance of the meet was low.” According to Schlegel, the meet getting moved up was a bit of an inconvenience, as many players missed due to class conflicts, but the Blue Jays “were ready to race and jump as if it were a regular Saturday meet.” “It was just a good opportunity to run some races,” and the Blue Jays treated it as preparation for the Landmark Championships which will take place on February 27, Schlegel said.
Deam was unphased by the team’s lack of attendance and the date change: “the meet being moved up a day didn’t affect my performance… it just meant I’d be able to do what I love a day earlier,” Deam said. Despite the team not being at its full capacity, the Blue Jays kept up their tradition of supporting one another, and “kept each other’s spirits high” Deam added.
Both teams will compete against Bucknell this Friday and Saturday.
