Elizabethtown College’s men’s and women’s track and field teams each had their fourth meet of the season this past Friday. The teams made their way up to New York City, N.Y. for the NYU DIII Invitational. The events were held at the New Balance Track & Field Center at The Armory at 5 p.m. on Feb. 3.
On the women’s side of things, the Blue Jays had a slew of successful performances at the event. In all, there were ten members of the team that placed in their respective events. Junior mid-distance runner Kelty Oaster had two top-three finishes at the event. Oaster’s time of 5:08.40 in the mile was good enough for second place. Later, she would also place third in the 800m event with a final time of 2:22.05.
Etown also saw some of their Blue Jays set some personal records. Senior sprinter Laura Cardona also had a successful day, setting two personal records of her own, both coming in the 60m hurdles event. She was able to make the finals for the event after running a sub-ten time at 9.88. Then, she would run an even better time in the finals with a 9.82, grabbing seventh place. Senior Trinity Soto also broke a personal record in the weight-throwing event with a throw of 11.99m and was awarded a top-ten finish at 10th place in the event.
That same evening, the men’s track and field team found some success with a couple Blue Jays also setting personal records.
Junior distance runner Christian Gingrich set a personal best in the 3,000m event with a time of 8:40.28. This time was good enough to place sixth in the event. Senior Evan Schwab was the other Jay that would break a personal record. Schwab ran a time of 22.87 in the 200m event which was good for a top-ten finish in ninth place.
First-year Sprinter Matt Lamb had Etown’s top finish of the evening. His unseeded 60m dash time of 7.47 put him inside the top five in fourth place.
Both the men’s and women’s track and field teams will make their way back to New York in Staten Island for the Fastrack National Invitational on Friday, Feb. 10. The events will begin at 12 p.m. in the Ocean Breeze Track & Field Athletic Complex.
