The Hopkins men and women’s track teams hosted the The Hopkins/Loyola Invitational track meet on Sunday, the first and only home meet of the season.
Both teams came away very successful, with the men placing first out of the ten competing schools and the women coming in second for their respective meet.
The men’s team broke two school records in their win, while the women finished second only to Division I Towson University.
The men’s team finished the meet with a total of 183 points, while Salisbury University took second place with 169.5 points, and Rowan College placed third with 116 points.
Sophomore Alex Jebb was the first Blue Jay to break a current school record, topping Bob Wilson’s 30-year old record at the triple jump event with a leap of 13.83 meters, leading the conference and placing in him second place at the meet.
In the long jump, Jebb then went on to place first with a 6.55 meter jump, while teammates Alexander Naticchia, Jonathon Lee and Ryan Walsh placed second, fifth and sixth in the event.
Jebb was not the only Hopkins team member to place in the triple jump event, with Michael Spadaro, Brendan Evans, and Harper Wilson taking third, fourth and sixth respectively.
Blue Jay senior and co-captain Luke Sand won the discus event with the conference-leading throw of 46.18 meters. He also continued to come in third place in the shot put.
The next school record was broken in the 4 x 100 meter relay, as Hopkins team members Robert Martin, Naticchia, Tobe Madu, and Collin Rozanski combined for a time of 42.64 seconds.
Following the 4 x 100 was the 4 x 800 meter relay, an event which was won by Hopkins runners Julian Saliani, Wes Butler, Ben Press, and Andrew Carey in 8:06.48 minutes.
Sophomore Josh Budman won the rugged 3,000 meter steeplechase in just 9:50.89.
In the final events, Naticchia ran a solid 22.73 in the 200 meter race, Martin clocked 50.64 for 400 meters, and Press ran a personal best 1:55.66 for second in the 800 meter. Jebb was second in the 110 meter high hurdles in 15.76 and Max Robinsonwas second in the 5,000 meter run in 15:19.38, followed by Blue Jays Brett Schwartzand Austin Stecklair in third and fourth.
The dominance and intensity brought to the meet by the men’s team was unmatched by any of the opponents, and the Blue Jays will look to bring the same intensity to their next meet on April 20.
The women’s team also posted a strong performance this past Sunday, taking second place at the only home event of the year.
Towson won the meet with a leading 274.5 points, but the Blue Jays finished with 129 points, ahead of third place Chrisoopher Newport (104.5 points), and Salisbury (101 points).
Freshman Hannah Eckstein posted a solid victory to set the tone for Hopkins, running a 17:13.96 in the 5,000 meter run, 11 seconds ahead of fellow All American and teammate sophomore Holly Clarke. The two have become a formidable one-two punch for head coach Bobby Van Allen
Junior Annie Monagle led the 800 meter run with a time of 2:16.11, while freshman Megan Hotz came in fourth at 2:21.19.
Sophomore Lillian Murphy came in second in the 3,000 meter steeplechase in 11:34.89, and the Blue Jays proceeded to place second in three relay events.
Hopkins added a second place finished in the javelin, with Emily Swenson reaching 38.72 meters. Overall, both teams were very productive in the Men’s and Women’s Hopkins/Loyola Invitational, bringing home first and second place finishes.
The track team will travel to Chester, PA for their next meet before the Centennial Conference Championships.
