The University of Richmond hosted the Fred Hardy invitational this weekend, and the Hopkins men’s and women’s track and field teams had many solid performances over the two-day event. This was the first event of the outdoor track and field season this year.
Both teams started strong to open the first day. Junior Andrew King came in first among the non-division I runners in the steeplechase with a time of 9:38.12, only a short distance behind the top division I competitor who ran a time of 9:37.05. Senior Benjamin Huang also came in first place in the pole vault with a height of 4.40 meters.
One interesting story was freshman Ethan Bartlett, who played basketball for Hopkins this winter, quickly finding success in his first college track meet. He set an all-time Hopkins record for the triple jump as he leapt 14.31 meters, landing him in third place among non-Division I participants.
Bartlett spoke about his first meet.
“I was really looking forward to it. I wouldn’t say that I felt any pressure, but I was pretty anxious to see where I’d be with the jumps because I hadn’t had one measured since nationals in high school,” he said. “My goal for this first meet was to just get a few decent jumps out to start the season off on a good note.”
For the women, day one also provided some solid performances. Junior Caelyn Reilly continued her trend of success from the indoor track season by winning the 5000-meter race with a time of 17:16.85. Junior Samantha Levy came in second place with a time of 17:33.96. To put their success into perspective, the winner of the division I 5000-meter race finished with a time of 17:52.63.
Just as King won the steeplechase for the men, senior Tasha Freed also won the event for the women, beating out all of the other non-division I participants with a time of 10:55.39. This time set a new facility record at the University of Richmond.
Day two saw more of the same, as many athletes showed their skills in a variety of events. For the men, Bartlett continued to find quick success, getting second place in the high jump with a height of 1.85 meters. He also finished in the top ten in the long jump with a distance of 6.35 meters.
Bartlett discussed his early success.
“It feels great to start off so well and it’s also cool to now own the school record [for triple jump], but I know that I cant get too excited about this because I have much bigger goals for the season,” he said.
Sophomore Jared Pangallozzi placed in the top five in the 5000-meter race with a time of 14:56.28, and his teammate, junior PJ Murray, finished in eighth with a time of 15:08.19. Junior Matthew Su also placed third in the long jump, jumping 6.81 meters.
For the women’s team, senior Maya Hammonds finished in second in the long jump with a distance of 5.57 meters. Her teammate, senior Catherine Wain, finished in the top ten as well with a distance of 5.03 meters. Hammonds secured third in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.66.
Senior Erin Brush finished in third place in the 800-meter race with a time of 2:18.14. Sophomores Therese Olshanski and Ariel Keklak also finished in the top ten. Sophomore Veronica Montane also placed fourth in the javelin throw with a distance of 38.47 meters.
Overall, there were a few spectacular performances at this event for the Blue Jays, and both teams performed well, as many events had their top tens littered with Hopkins athletes. This weekend, the teams travel to Towson for the Towson invitational.
Bartlett looked forward to the rest of the season.
“I think that as a team we all want to see improvement throughout the season. On a personal level, I’d like to improve a few technical aspects of my jumps and I think that’ll come with time.”
