Track & Field Breaks 7 Records And Set 2 at SLIAC Invitational

The Westminster men’s and women’s track and field teams finished out their season at the SLIAC Invitational on Saturday, April 26. The women’s team took second place out of eight teams with five first place finishes and a 147 score. The men’s team placed fifth with one first place finish and a score of 43.

The Westminster Blue Jays also broke seven records and set two new records at the Invitational.

Women:

Junior Amanda Killgore broke the long jump and triple jump records, placing first in the triple jump (9.73-m) and fourth in the long jump (4.67-m). She also set the 100-meter (2nd /17.93) and 400-meter hurdles (1st /1:15.26)  records.

Senior Sarah Ogar broke the 400-meter dash record with a 59.99  2nd place finish. She also placed first in the 800-meter run with a 2:24.27 time.

The 4×400-meter relay team, comprised of juniors Danielle Smulczenski and Manyima Njie, freshman Rachel Bade and Ogar, shaved two seconds of the previously held record with their first place 4:13.08 finish. The 4×100-meter relay team took second place with a 52.67 finish.

Junior Tanisha Terrell placed first in the 100-meter dash (13.15) and fourth in the 200-meter dash (27.73).

Sophomore Brier Skogsberg placed second in the 10,000-meter run with a 45:33.09 time.

Njie placed fourth in the 400-meter dash (1:02.94) and  fifth in the 100-meter dash (13.39). Smulczenski finished less than a second after Njie in the 400-meter dash, placing fifth with a 1:03.39.

Senior Sarah Koestner returned from an injury to compete in the 1,500-meter run. She placed fourth with an overall time of 5:18.22. Bade placed seventh in the 800-meter run (2:32.36).

On the field for the women, sophomore Jen Herndon shattered the discus throw record. She threw almost three meters farther than the previous held record, placing 3rd with the 28.2-meter throw. She also placed second in the javelin (24.8-m) and fourth in the shot put (10.24-m).

Smulczenski also threw the javelin (3rd /24.4-m) and discus (6th /24.83-m).

Men:

Sophomore Bret Robertson broke the javelin throw record with his 48.46-meter first place finish at the Invitational. Senior Gus Lyles also threw, placing seventh with a 30.06-meter throw.

Junior Mike Lutz broke the discus throw record with his seventh place 30.00-meter throw. He also threw the shot put (8th /10.76-m) and the hammer throw (10th /30.43-m).

Sophomore Christian Houston shattered the hammer throw record, replacing the previous 27.59-meter record with a 31.30-meter ninth place finish.  He also threw the shot put (12th /9.8-m) and discus (23.27-m).

Rounding out the men’s field was junior Dan Breihan on the long jump. He placed seventh with a 4.85-meter jump.

Senior Matt Borst had two second place finishes on the track side. He finished the 10,000-meter run in 34:49.88 and the 5,000-meter run in 16:09.46. Daniel Lindaman also ran the 10,000-meter run (4th /37:37.56) and the 5,000-meter run (6th /17:07.46). Senior Jacob Burch rounded out the 10,000-meter run with a 42:16.87 fifth place finish.

The 4×100-meter relay team placed third with a 52.33 time, and the 4×400-meter relay team placed seventh (3:47.29).

Robertson also ran the 400-meter hurdles, placing fifth with a 1:03.39 time. Freshman TJ Tjikuzu ran the 400-meter dash, placing sixth with a 54.03 time.

The Blue Jays will graduate three male and two female runners.