This past Friday, March 31, the track and field team hosted the Trinity Invitational. Schools from all over such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), University of Queens and Hendrix College traveled to San Antonio to compete in the meet. The Tigers took home some wins and some even broke some personal bests.
“We worked really hard,” said junior Elizabeth Peters. “I felt like we were united as a team and came together to compete.”
In the women’s field, junior Nkolika Nweke took second place in the 100-meter dash and second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.25, making it a record speed for the sprinter. First-year Laura Taylor placed fourth in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:27.32. Sophomore Molly McCullough took home the gold in the 1500-meter run with a time of 4:55.32. This was her personal record for the race. In the 5000-meter run, junior Haley McFadden placed third with a time of 20:08.08.
In the hurdles, sophomore Abigail Schneebeck placed second in both the 100-meter and 400-meter. She set a personal best in the 400-meter with a time of 15.28. First-year Andy Garza placed fourth in the 400-meter with a time of 1:08.39.
The Tigers’ relay team won the 4-x-100 meter relay with a time of 49.51. Members of the relay were Nweke, Peters, first-year Androniki Deftarios and junior Britney Sullivan.
In jumps, Sullivan placed fourth in the long jump with a distance of 5.38 meters. Sullivan also placed second in the triple jump with a distance of 11.49 meters; right behind her was first-year Ayriel Coleman with a distance of 11.07 meters.
Moving into the men’s field, sophomore Blair Walker placed second in the 400-meter dash with a time of 50.24, a personal best. In the 800-meter run, sophomores Elliot Blake and Benjamin Creasy placed first and second with times of 1:58.73 and 1:59.18. Senior Austin Brown placed third in the 1500-meter run with a time of 4:09.54. In the 10,000-meter run, sophomore Brian Wongchotigul won gold with a time of 33:04.05, followed by sophomore Andy Cottrell.
“It felt amazing to break my [personal record] by so much,” Walker said. “I’ve sort of been in a slump with chronic injuries since high school, so this was really a break-out meet for me. I was so surprised with my time that I honestly didn’t believe it until the official times came in.”
Junior Trent Walker took third in the 110-meter hurdles and fourth in the 400-meter hurdles. In the 3000-meter steeplechase, junior Daniel Henkes placed third with a time of 11:04.62.
The Tigers took another win in the 4-x-100 meter relay with a time of 42.82. The members of the relay included senior Adam Saunders, junior Cody Hall, first-years Jon Sorey and Raphael Martin.
In throws, junior Matt Love placed first with a throw of 48.32 meters. First-year Brian Guerrero took third in the javelin throw with a throw of 40.66 meter.
“I think having a team like MIT come to our home meet really brings out our competitive spirit,” Matt Love said. “We don’t normally compete against many schools from outside of Texas, so when we do get a chance like that, it gives the meet a special feel that motivates us all to turn in good performances.”
