Though the rest of the campus may be, the track and field team is undeterred by the cold temperatures and the snow, training hard for their indoor season. With three meets already completed, the men and women will continue to compete until their season ends in May.
Coming off of Christmas break, the Highlanders had one practice before competing in their second meet. Many of the athletes set personal records and qualified for National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Nationals at the RIT Invitational on January 12. The women’s 4×200 placed second, running the event in 1:55.07.
Junior Alyssa Figueroa qualified for NCCAA Nationals and broke two school records, running 60 meters in 8.08 seconds and jumping 11.35 meters in the triple jump.
Head track and field coach Matthew Dougherty said, “With Alyssa Figueroa, Sarah Munkittrick, Savannah Doviak, and Mary Strand as sprinters, Leah Williams and Annelise Hein running long distance, and Andrea Melhorn adding good depth on the field, we have a good group of returners this year.”
While all events in track and field are performed individually, aside from relays, the team still plays a significant role. The teammates encourage one another at practices and competitions to persevere through mental and physical exhaustion.
“The track team is really unique in a way that as a whole team we only practice together once a week, during meets is when we get to spend time together,” junior captain Sarah Munkittrick said. “We all want everyone to do their best.”
The team competed again this past weekend at the SPIRE North Coast Indoor Track and Field Open hosted in Columbus, Ohio. More personal records were broken as the athletes had a week more of training.
Sophomores Andrea Melhorn and Mary Strand both qualified for Nationals. Melhorn qualified for the hammer throw with a mark of 11.99 meters. Strand ran 200 meters in 27.06 seconds. The Highlanders ran the women’s 4×400 meter relay in 4:15.28, Strand anchoring with a split of 59 seconds. Dougherty also highlighted senior captain Andrew McGinnis’ time of 24.35 seconds in the 200 meter race.
“I think [the season] is going well. We have a bunch of new guys and girls coming in,” sophomore captain Austin Groff said. “We had about 48% personal records broken for girls in the last meet and a high percentage for the guys as well.”
The team will participate in the Empire 8 Championships this Saturday, January 26. The indoor season will end in March, and then the outdoor track and field events will begin.
The main difference when the team transitions to outdoor events is that the races are longer distances, losing the shorter sprints. In addition, some other throwing field events are added, such as javelin and discus.
The indoor facilities built with the Kerr-Pegula donation will result in more efficient ways to train for events such as the triple jump and pole vaulting. As of now, there are no pits to jump in and the vaulters do not actually vault until the meets, although they train in other ways.
“It is hard for a coach to have goals, but the team came in second last year and I think they want to replicate that this year,” said Dougherty. “Basically the team is as strong as any other and we just want to finish in the top half.”
Munkittrick said, “Personally, I want the womens 4x200m relay to become All-American at the NCCAA indoor nationals and to break the school record again!”