The end of the regular season proved to be a strong one for the Hopkins women’s track and field team. Coming off of a very strong performance at the United States Naval Academy last weekend, the Lady Jays found themselves in Haverford, Pa. to conclude their indoor regular season at the Keogh Invitational on Saturday afternoon.
Success followed the team throughout the entire day, as Hopkins saw solid performances in both the track and field events.
One of the strongest events for the team was the high jump. Hopkins took two of the top three spots with freshman Laura Janss and sophomore Paige Marsh finishing first and third, respectively. Janss jumped an astounding 1.52 meters while Marsh cleared 1.47 meters.
This was just the start of Marsh’s success. She broke her season records for the long jump and the triple jump. She long jumped 4.97 meters, improving her previous mark by over .2 meters. While placing fourth in the triple jump with a distance of 10.23 meters, she topped her previous best score of 10.13 meters.
With the conferences championships and the outdoor season approaching fast, Marsh hopes her recent success is only the start for her.
“My personal goals for this weekend are to PR in the pentathlon as well as in my open events in the long jump, high jump, and triple jump,” Marsh said. “For outdoor, I hope to continue to keep improving, earning more points in the heptathlon and medaling in at least one event at conferences. I'm also hoping our team can beat its last indoor point record of 231 points this weekend and continue to earn our top place in the conference.”
The field event success didn’t end with Marsh either. Freshman Gracie Hargrove had an outstanding performance in the shot put. Her throw of 12.57 meters landed her in second place.
Next up were the track events. The 4 x 200 meter relay team highlighted the day for the Lady Jays. The team finished second behind Widener with a time of 1:50.29.
Another top event for Hopkins was the 800 meter race. Sophomore Hudson Van Slooten finished the race with a time of 2:23.63. Her time landed her in fifth place overall. Freshman Breanna Johnson finished in 14th place with a time of 2:29.76.
All of the team’s success didn’t come as a surprise, though.
“Our team has been continually improving in multiple events throughout the 2013-2014 indoor season. There have been several PRs and broken school records thus far, and expectations are only rising for the coming championship meets starting with conferences this weekend,” Marsh said. “It takes time to get into your peak condition and the past few weeks have clearly shown that our hard work is paying off. We are all mentally in the game and prepared for what we're reaching for and this has helped us to get to where we are now.”
Hopkins will be back in action this Saturday and Sunday in Haverford, Pa. again as they kick off March at the Centennial Conference championships. The day will feature the top track and field competitors from across the conference. There is no doubt that the Lady Jays will be working extremely hard this week in preparation. With all of the recent success, there are many athletes with high hopes for themselves and the team to take home the gold medal in the conference.
