With less than three weeks left until the Heps championship meet hosted by Princeton from May 4th-5th, the Red continued its outdoor track and field season by competing at the Bucknell Invite, while the men’s team sent some of its athletes to a meet hosted by George Mason.
The women’s team competed strongly, claiming eight events wins and 21 ECAC qualifying marks. Women’s head coach Rich Bowman said that despite there being adverse weather, his team kept their eyes set on their events.
“There are basically two meets,” he said. “There’s a Saturday component that contains the throws and the distance. We had some really special things happen in the distance runs on Saturday night. On Sunday, the rest of the team got to compete. [It was] a little windy and cold, but they didn’t really let the conditions get to them.”
Notable performances for the women’s team included junior Leah Ferrara winning the 3K in 10:25.46, senior co-captain Victoria Imbesi winning the javelin with a throw of 148’3”, senior Claire Dishong winning the pole vault clearing 13’.5” and junior Ebolutalese Airewele winning the 400m in 55.68.
The men’s weekend culminated in two new school records and 24 IC4A qualifying performances. Junior Will Weinlandt set the new school record in the 800m with a time of 1:48.43, while sophomore Stephen Mozia set the new school record in the discus with a heave of 184’5”. According to men’s head coach Nathan Taylor, it was a good weekend for his team.
“Some of the events went really well,” he said. “Stephen Mozia’s new school record in the discus was great. I thought the pole vault guys jumped well. We really dominated that event. The other big performances of the weekend came down at George Mason, where the sprint guys were amazing. All in all, it was a very good weekend.”
Taylor also spoke about some of the challenges that his team has faced this season, and how his squad has been able to take those challenges and maintain its focus.
“The weather has been off and on,” he said. “I think that probably always the biggest challenge with seventy five men on the team, in an individual sport like this which is also a team sport, is how to keep them invested in their own performances and improvement, along with their contributions to the team. They’ve been great about that.”
Bowman was also optimistic about the direction in which his team is moving, speaking to the way the team is dealing with the weather troubles.
“Moving in the right direction,” he said. “We’re doing all of the things that we need to be doing as a team. The weather isn’t perfect, but they’re not letting it bother them at all, they’re just pushing right through it.”
This weekend is going to be another busy and competitive weekend for the Red, competing at the Upstate Challenge against some of the strongest track and field teams in upstate New York, while the men’s team sends some of its middle distance runners to the Larry Ellis Invitational hosted by Princeton, according to Taylor.
“We’re sending some of the middle distance runners to Princeton,” he said. “The majority of the kids are going to the Upstate Challenge. It’s all an effort to keep everyone moving forward to the Heps championships in two weeks.”
With the championship part of the season rapidly approaching, Bowman was confident that the team is right where it should be.
“I think we’re right where we need to be,” he said. “We’ve got to learn how to compete here, and how to be a great team in the Northeast region, and we’re doing that.”
Original Author: Juan Carlos Toledo