Track prepares for Centennial playoffs

The Hopkins men's and
women's track teams traveled
to New York this past
Saturday to participate in
NYU's Division III Challenge
Meet held at the New
York Armory. With the
men's side featuring eight
teams and two clubs, and
the women's side featuring
nine teams and two clubs,
the meet promised to be
very competitive.
When the final numbers
were tallied, the men's team
placed sixth while the Hopkins
women finished third.
Beginning with the men's
side, the Blue Jays recorded
43 points, behind winner
TCNJ's 84.5. Other notable
participants included fellow
Centennial Conference rivals
Dickinson and Swarthmore,
who placed third and
ninth, respectively.
Noteworthy individual
performances by Blue
Jay runners included senior
Jacob Kramer's third
place finish in the 60-meter
hurdles with a time of
8.77. Kramer, along with
teammates junior Robert
Martin, sophomore Jason
Beckman and junior Tobe
Madu, also won the 4X400
meter relay with an impressive
time 3:27.38.
In the high jump, freshman
Ryan Walsh's 1.88-meter
(six-feet-two-inches)
jump was good for second
place. Several Blue Jays recorded
personal bests in
their events, such as freshman
Michael Spadaro,
whose 3.95 meters (12-feet-
11.5-inches) in the pole
vault was good for fourth
in the meet and in the conference
rankings.
Other personal bests
included sophomore Andrew
Carey and junior Ben
Press who finished second
and third, respectively, in
the 800-meter, as well as
sophomore Robert Ferris
who ran his best mile with
a time of 4:25.87.
On the women's side,
the Blue Jays placed third
with 49 points, also behind
winner TCNJ's 81.5 points.
Dickinson and Swarthmore
didn't fair as well,
finishing fourth with 47
points and tenth with 13
points, respectively.
Notable individual
achievements included junior
Alana Merkow's first
place finish in the shot put
with a throw of 12.25 meters
(40-feet-2.25-inches).
Senior Devin Meade and
junior Kristin Spera placed
first and second, respectively,
in the high jump, where
Meade defeated Spera on a
tiebreaker jump off.
In the triple jump,
freshman Rachel Wolinsky
jumped 10.18 meters
(33-feet-4.75-inches), which
was the best in Hopkins indoor
history for a freshman
and the sixth best all-time.
Other historic performances
included senior
Alison Smith, whose 8.07
second 60-meter dash was
just three-hundredths off
the school indoor record.
Smith had an active day,
also placing third in the
200 with a time of 26.30
seconds, sixth in the long
jump with a 4.86 meters
(15-feet-11.5-inches) jump,
and represented the team
in the 4x200-meter relay.
These appearances further
bolstered her position
in the Centennial Conference
rankings, where
she leads in the 200 and
400-meter dashes and is
second in the 60-meter.
Junior Paige Boehmeke
and freshman Emilee
Warner also moved up the
Centennial Conference
rankings. Boehmeke's
fourth place finish in the
800-meter for fourth-place
with a 2:21.42 time, moved
her into seventh-place
in the Centennial Conference
rankings, while
Warner's 62.65 time in the
400-meter improved her
ranking as well.
Both the men's and
women's teams will compete
in the Centennial
Conference championship
meet next Saturday, Feb. 25
at Ursinus College in Collegetown,
PA. Both teams
will certainly be very competitive,
and the Blue Jay
women will look to defend
last year's title.