The Tigers came up short of their Outdoor Track and Field Southern Athletic Association (SAA) Championship aspirations, with both the men’s and women’s programs finishing second behind Centre College. Trinity competed at Berry College in Georgia on April 24-25, and despite missing out on the conference title in their debut season, the meet featured multiple highlight moments for the Tigers, including senior Gianna Keena winning SAA Distance Runner of the Year.
Keena, who also won the award for the conference during the indoor season, won the 5K and finished second in the 10K at the championships. Keena was not the only Tiger to earn SAA honors, though. The Tigers broke two SAA meet records and had 27 podium finishes across the two-day meet.
Trinity’s two records came in the women’s 4×400 relay and the men’s discus. Trinity’s relay team featured senior Halle Hamilton, first-year Ciara Catton and sophomores Shifa Daredia and Annabelle Lanik. The team set not only the SAA meet record, but also set a new school record. First-year John Michael Martin broke the SAA meet record in the discus.
Six of the 27 top-three Tigers finishes came from the field events, including Martin’s first-place finish in the discus. Fellow first-year Ian Zahner took third in the men’s hammer throw while senior Bocar Diagana took third in the men’s triple jump. Sophomore Addison Doss and first-year Milena Otoo tied for third in the women’s pole vault on Friday. Lanik also earned silverware on Friday with a second-place finish in the women’s long jump. On Saturday, sophomore Sophia Ortiz finished second in the women’s high jump.
Trinity managed seven medals in the distance events, starting Friday with sophomore Anne Snider and Keena going one-two in the women’s 10K and senior Logan Nasky and first-year Brady Peifer going two-three in the men’s steeple chase. The Tigers swept the podium in the women’s 5K with Keena first, sophomore Emerson Voldan second and Snider third.
In the middle-distance events, the Tigers added two more first-place finishes and four more second-place finishes. Catton won the women’s 800-meter while sophomore Kyle Fix won the men’s 1500. Hamilton and Fix both finished second in their 800s, while Voldan and senior Jesus Rojas both finished second in the 1500s.
Lanik gave the Tigers both of their two podium finishes in the sprints, finishing second in the women’s 200 and third in the 100. Sophomore Kaleem Howard added two more medals in the hurdles, taking second in the 110 hurdles and winning the men’s 400 hurdles. Senior Kris Duggan bested Howard in the 110 hurdles to give the Tigers another first-place finish.
Three of the four Trinity relay teams podiumed, with the women’s 4×400 and 4×100 teams finishing first. Sophomore Nia Scott and first-year Isabella Gaylord joined Daredia and Lanik on the 4×100 team. The men’s 4×400 team, made up of junior Ryan Forson, first-year Hudson McCulley, junior Jackson Gallagher and senior Sebastian Langer, finished in third.
The Tigers will travel to Dallas for the Southern Methodist University (SMU) Invitational on May 1-2, host the Trinity Last Chance Meet on May 10 and compete in the Augustana Last Chance meet in Rock Island, IL from May 13-15. These three competitions represent the last three chances for Trinity runners to qualify for the NCAA Division III national championships before they begin in La Crosse, WI, on May 21.
