Rebekah Smith
The Titan track and field teams competed at the Benedictine Eagle Invitational in Lisle, Illinois on Saturday, April 12, where both the men’s and women’s teams finished in second place. Despite the terribly windy weather, the athletes were able to have some pretty exciting performances and showings.
The Illinois Wesleyan University women dominated in the sprints and field events. In the 100-meter dash, sophomore Angela Herrmann, sophomore Nia Joiner, junior Kristen Johnson, first-year Maddison Zimmer, junior Kelli Herlitz and first-year Liz Oltman took second, third, fifth, sixth, seventh and ninth places.
In addition to her 12.11 second 100-meter dash, Herrmann also took third place in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.14.
“The Benedictine meet was a great meet filled with success. The weather really allowed for us to compete to the best of our ability,” said Herrmann. “The team overall has gotten so much closer this year and I think it has really helped me become a better competitor knowing I have so much support from my teammates. My team has taught me to believe in myself because if I don’t even believe in myself, how do I expect anyone else to?”
With a time of 57.84, junior Allie Boudreau took second in the 400-meter dash. Both the 4×100-meter relay team and the 4×400 meter relay team blew away the competition with first place finishes.
Sophomore Ellen Renk long jumped a distance of 17’04.75” to take second place. Sophomores Jill Harmon, Ellen Renk, and Kelli Herlitz solidified first, second and third places for the Titans in the triple jump.
Also in the javelin throw, the trio of junior Maddie Greybar, sophomore Kienna Schumacher and Allie Boudreau took first through third places. With a distance of 143’ Greybar broke the meet record.
“The meet this weekend was super fun to watch. In the middle of our javelin flight, Kienna, Allie and I got to watched Angela win the 100 with Nia and Kristen,” said Greybar. “Our team of javelin throwers is really solid this year. Kienna has been PRing at every meet and throwing really well. Our plan is the to take the top 3 spots in Conference. We will do it, but that means we’re going to have to work hard these next two weeks in preparation.”
In the men’s 100-meter dash, junior Jordan Collins was the first to the finish with a time of 10.99 seconds. “This past weekend was a great meet at Benedictine University. It was extremely windy but the team as a whole performed extremely well,” said Collins. “I’m most happy about the men and women’s victory in the 4×100 meter relay. We’ve been working hard everyday and it’s great to see hard work pay off! Going 10.9 in the 100-meter was great too!”
Sophomore Dan Krob finished in second place with a time of 3:59.98 in the 1,500-meter run. With a time of 1:56.93, senior Aaron Smith won the 800-meter run.
“I don’t know what the deal is with the weather, but it needs to get warm and nice so we can actually have outdoor track,” said Smith. “The performances these last two weeks for the men have been fantastic. We are competing like the respectable team we are.”
Senior Sean Ryan finished in third place with a time of 15:54.1, and junior Jeff Toraason took third in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.16 seconds. The men’s 4×100-meter relay took first, and the 4×400-meter relay took third place.
With a distance of 21’10.75” senior Joey Pacione took third place and junior Benden Wall followed with a distance of 21’08.25 to take fourth. Pacione also took second in the triple jump and Wall took fourth with distances of 47’02.25” and 44’05.5” respectively.
Pacione was also named the CCIW Field athlete of the week.
The Titans will continue their season with the Role-Hulman Invitational in Terre Haute, Indiana on Friday, April 18 and the Illinois College Invitational in Jacksonville, Illinois on Saturday, April 26. Both teams are hoping to dominate at the CCIW Championships in Napterville, Ill. on May 2 and 3. Many Titan athletes have the chance to qualify for the NCAA Division III National Outdoor Championships hosted in Delaware, Ohio at the end of May.