Records fall at Valentine Invite

Last Friday, Feb. 10th,
the men's and women's
track and field teams
headed to Boston, Massachusetts
to compete in
the Valentine Invitational
at Boston University. This
indoor event, which annually
hosts a large number
of competitive athletes,
including many Division
I teams, provided the perfect
opportunity for the
Blue Jays to strut their stuff.
Although neither the
men nor the women recorded
a team score, several
individuals set new
personal bests and broke
JHU records.
Senior and captain Alison
Smith had a very successful
meet, securing the
best performances so far
this year in the Centennial
Conference in both
the 200-meter dash and
400-meter dash with times
of 26.25 and 59.00, respectively.
Her times also put
her in second place just
behind Paula Osborn, who
holds the Blue Jay school
records.
Freshman Hannah Eckstein,
who had been spotlighted
as The News-Letter's
Athlete of the Week earlier
this year, also made an
excellent achievement at
the Valentine Invitational.
With a time of 16:59.88 in
the 5000-meter race, Eckstein
achieved the best
time in the Centennial and
now ranks second nationally
in Division III track
and field.
Lara Shegoski, another
freshman, ran the
5000-meter in 18:16.68,moving her to fourth
place in the Centennial
Conference rankings.
Along with the women's
team, the men's team
had an equally impressive
meet in Boston.
Freshman Max Robinson,
from Rye, New York,
who ran the 5000-meter
race, placed second in his
event and also shaved
seven seconds off the
Hopkins school record
with a time of 14:52.66.
Freshmen Austin
Stecklair and Julian
Saliani both had very
impressive runs in the
3000-meter event.
With a time of 8:54.91,
Stecklair broke the JHU
freshman record and
Saliani, who set a new
personal best at the Invitational,
finished the
3000-meter less than ten
seconds later.
Sophomore Wes Butler,
a graduate of the Collegiate
school in Richmond,
Virginia, also took over
the third place spot for
the fastest indoor mile
run in Hopkins history
with a time of 4:24.93.
The mile race was won
by sophomore Rich Peters
of Boston University. Peters
finished the mile with
a time of 3:57.83.
Expect to see both
teams back in action
when they head to New
York City to participate in
the NYU team challenge.
The race will take place
in a little over a week on
Saturday, Feb. 25th.