Coming off of their most impressive, dominating and rewarding performances of the entire season, the Hopkins men and women’s track teams traveled to the ECAC Championships and the Columbia Last Chance Invitational at the New Balance Armory in New York to take on various opponents from over 40 colleges and universities.
Having claimed the Centennial Conference championships this past weekend, both teams were fired up heading into competition on Friday evening and looked to continue their dominating performances.
The Armory hosted several Division I, II and III schools at the invitational as many teams sent competitors to try to qualify for the NCAA Championships in Naperville, Illinois on March 8 and 9. Both teams had individual competitors who set personal, school and national records throughout the weekend as they continued to perform admirably and exceed expectations.
Getting the weekend started, junior Emily Swenson turned out very impressive performances at the ECAC Championship on Friday evening. She competed in both the shot put event and the pentathlon race. She came in fifth overall in the entire tournament for the shot put event with a throw of 12.84 meters.
However, the even more impressive feat came during the pentathlon as she demolished a previous Hopkins record in the 60-meter hurdles race with an incredible time of 9.31 seconds.
Her performances on Friday evening continued a very hot streak for Swenson as she was named Outstanding Field Performer last weekend in the Centennial Conference Championships after Hopkins defeated every opponent by an astounding amount. Swenson is one of many from the women’s team who is being considered to head to Napersville for the National Championships.
The highlight reels continued to grow on Saturday during the Columbia Last Chance Invitational as both teams had strong individual performances. Senior James Frick provided the show to begin the meet on Saturday as he broke the Hopkins track program record in the mile run, finishing with a time of 4:17.11. The time goes down in Hopkins history as the fastest mile time in a competition, over two seconds faster than the previous program record that was set by Brandon Hahn in 2011.
Frick performed tremendously throughout the run, looking determined and overcoming some very stiff competition to finish strong.
“Setting the record in the last indoor meet of my career was extremely fun,” commented Frick. “But it mostly gets me excited for the future of the team. The team has improved by leaps and bounds over the last few years and I eagerly await next year’s performances. It’s an honor to be on this team and a part of this team at this moment in history. And the future looks even brighter.”
Fellow teammate junior Andrew Carey continued the streak of record-breaking performances as he set a season record in the 800-meter run turning in a time of 1:55.63.
The boys were able to use the energy and enthusiasm they displayed last weekend in the conference championships to compete well throughout the weekend. Coming off their first ever Centennial Conference championship victory, the Blue Jays showed no signs of slowing down as they continued to roll throughout the races and events.
However, the weekend was far from over. Four Lady Jays packed into a car on Saturday and travelled up the highway to Medford, Massachusetts to face off against Tufts and various other schools in the Tufts Last Chance Meet.
The Lady Jays hit the track in full force and had one of their greatest performances of the season.
To be exact, the four of them combined to set a national record that now currently stands at fifth overall in the entire nation in the distance medley relay event.
The women’s distance medley relay team consisting of senior Annie Monagle, freshman Hannah Oneda, freshman Megan McDonald and sophomore Ingrid Johnson crushed the previous Centennial Conference record in the distance medley relay event. Monagle ran the 1200-meter stretch of the race, finishing with a time of 3:30. McDonald took down the 400-meter stretch in just 60 seconds, while Johnson ran a 2:16 800-meter race.
Finally, Oneda capped off an unbelievable performance by finishing the 1600-meter race with a time of 4:57. The group of girls performed extremely well, overcoming their tiredness to clock not only a conference record but also a time that now currently ranks fifth in the entire nation for the distance medley relay event. The four girls are all favorites to qualify for the National Championships next weekend in Napersville.
Overall, The Blue Jays should have some athletes from both the men’s and women’s programs travelling and competing in the NCAA National Championships next weekend.
“The women’s DMR team will most definitely be going to nationals, with Hannah and Annie also qualifying for individual events,” said Frick. “The past two weeks have been some of the greatest during my track career. I couldn’t think of a better way to end my career than with a Centennial Conference victory followed by a school record in the mile. In ways, it felt like the end of a cliché sports film. I’m excited to see our program continue to grow and strive for more in future years, for more championships and national qualifiers.”
Full results of qualifiers will be determined later in the week and eventually posted when final decisions are made.
Using the momentum from winning the conference championship, both teams performed very well, using this weekend as a final tune up for all of those traveling to Illinois this upcoming weekend.
As the results are waiting to be posted, both teams will savor and celebrate the hardships they have overcome. The challenges they conquered this past weekend allowed the Blue Jays to exceed expectations and stun competitors.
