Wasting No Time
Indoor's Off With a Bang
So it begins.
Winter isn’t even officially here yet, but the results have already started pouring in. Folks, it’s indoor track season. Lace up your sprint spikes and dust off your shotputs — the time has come at last.
Well, actually, the time came last weekend. There were a number of teams who wasted no time in getting the ball rolling indoors, and in their honor I shall skip my usual up-front pontificating. Let’s get into it.
CapFam Alumni Meet
Cincinnati got their season started at the CapFam Alumni meet, where UC athletes competed in events from the 60 to the high jump to the 5000m, most of them under the banner of “Team Wiggle.” Some performances of note:
Colin Sorenson won the men’s mile in 4:43, won the 60m hurdles in 12.23, and took second in the high jump at 1.63m
Defending national champ George Patil won the high jump with a 1.86m performance. He also ran the 400m, finishing 6th in 56.69
Cohan Robinson stayed busy all day, running the 60m dash, the 60m hurdles, the 800, the 400, the 200, and the high jump. You wanna talk about RANGE?
Indianapolis Season Opener
Indiana put down some solid performances at the Indianapolis Season Opener last weekend, especially in the sprinting department. Most notably, Cameron Conforti took 4th overall in the 60 dash, running 7.16 in the qualifier round and 7.10 in the finals, and Anna Tieman ran 28.09 in the 200m.
Olivet Nazarene Holiday Invitational
Illinois made sure to remind us as early as they could that they are, in fact, a serious force to be reckoned with on any surface that goes in a circle. Though it was the first weekend of racing in what’s already shaping up to be a successful season for the Illini, several club records have already fallen. Special thanks to IU athlete and club running data god Beau Barber for the heads up on these!
Melissa Aninagyei-Bonsu set three club records in one meet, running 7.87 in the 60m dash prelims and then taking 4th in final with a 7.90. Then she flew 5.23m in the long jump and 11.93 in the triple jump. Melissa Aninagyei-Bonsu — remember that name.
Tyler Klein, meanwhile, ran 6.93 in the 60m finals, good enough for a club record and a 3rd place finish. Then he ran a 22.22 200m, just .05 seconds off the IU club record and fast enough for another 3rd-place overall finish. Lest you think he’s getting lazy, he also competed in the long jump, logging a 6.18m leap. Jean-Christophe Raymond-Bertrand, the hyphenate hero, actually finished ahead of his teammate in the 60 prelims, running 7.04, but finished just behind in the final with a 7.07. He also finished close behind in the 200 with a 22.40
SVSU Holiday Open
The Western Michigan Track & Field Club showed up and showed out at Saginaw Valley State last weekend. Joshua VanSlambrouck took third in the men’s 800 with a 2:00.91, and Ian Petruska wasn’t far behind in 2:01.70 (who’s gonna be the first clubber to break 2 this season?). Petruska also ran 4:28 in the mile.
Meanwhile, in the women’s shot put, Western had several women opening up their season with impressive marks. Vanya Ruppart threw 11.59m, and Cecile Steck threw 11.15m. Jazmyn Weddig, Lauren Dowdy, and Riley Creen also gave solid performances. Ruppart also competed in the weight throw.
BU Sharon Colyear Danville Season Opener
DID SOMEBODY SAY SHOTPUT?
UConn had a number of fantastic performances last weekend in Boston, but the other thing I find myself staggered by is the sheer numbers they brought to the meet. They had twenty shot putters (15 men, 5 women). Yes, TWENTY. Fear the team who shows up to an indoor meet with 20 shot putters — where there is depth there is almost always talent.
And there was, indeed, talent: Ian Lizzano ran 22.62 in the 200m, followed closely by teammate Ameen Parks (22.62), and Alanna Smith ran 26.85. Nikolai James ran 50.81 in the 400m (geez!) and James Ballesteros ran 51.90. Eric Meade ran 8.97 in the 60m hurdles for 4th overall, and Clarissa Nock took 3rd in the women’s shot put with an impressive 12.04m throw.
UConn has always been a team to watch in the indoor season, and it seems this time around will be no different. Between their dominant performances in the shorter distances and their absurd depth of talent in the field events, UConn is already performing at a rate that indicates they’ll be a major threat come Nationals.
ND Blue and Gold Invitational
The Notre Dame running club had a fantastic opportunity last Friday to compete on home turf against D1 competition. According to NDRC race coordinator Jonathan Karr, “Given that it was less than three weeks after NIRCA Cross Country Nationals most of our distance runners were still resting up after the big race. But this was a great opportunity for our top sprinters to start the season, and they came out in full force setting 3 indoor track club records. This was a great experience for our club runners to race against NCAA Division 1 competition.” The club records set were as follows:
60m Indoor Hurdles: Jack Schafer - 9.64
200m Dash: Joe Lohman - 25.16
800m Run: Pieter Heesters 2:02.4
photo courtesy of NDRC’s Jonathan Karr
