Photo courtesy of goxavier.com | Junior Grant Stapleton (middle) placed second in the 800 meter run with a time of 1:55:89 at the Gladstein Invitational in Bloomington, Ind.
The men’s and women’s track teams had successful outings the past two weeks at the Gladstein Invitational in Bloomington, Ind., and at the Thundering Herd Invitational in Huntington, W.Va.
On the women’s side, senior Madeline Britton posted a first-place finish in the 3000 meter run with a time of 10:05.50 at Gladstein.
Freshman Jenna Clayworth finished fourth in the event with a time of 10:07.84 while senior Allison Sinning finished seventh with a time of 10:12.26.
The women also had a sixth-place finisher in the 5,000 meter run in freshman Jennifer Prial. She finished with a time of 18:05.35.
“(Prial’s) performance stands out because she dropped 54 seconds off her previous best performances in the 5,000. She had a solid winter of training (and) executed her race plan to perfection,” head coach Ryan Orner said.
Senior Sarah Clark finished eighth in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:24.36.
The men’s team had three top 10 finishers of its own, with junior Grant Stapleton highlighting the day.
His second-place finish in the 800 meter run with a time of 1:55.89 was the best finish for the men.
Senior Zachary Polk finished fourth in the long jump with a distance of 22’ 7.” Junior Chris Taylor also finished in the top 10, placing 10th in the 200 meter dash with a time of 23.03.
At the Thundering Herd Invitational, each team had four top-10 finishers.
For the women’s team, Sinning placed fifth in the 3,000 meter run with a time 10:10.89, her personal best for the event.
Prial also finished in the top 10 in the 3,000 meter run and posted a personal best time of 10:20.15.
Sophomore Jane Onders and freshman Amanda Cusimano finished sixth and eighth in the 5,000 meter run with times of 18:21.00 and 18:23.78, respectively. The time was a personal best for Cusimano.
On the men’s side, Taylor finished fourth in the 60 meter dash with a season-best time of 6.96 seconds.
Polk finished fifth in the long jump with a distance of 22’ 1.75″. Stapleton finished fifth in the 800 meter dash with a time 1:54.57, a personal best.
Senior Grayson Jenkins finished fifth in the one-mile run with a time of 4:20.04, also a personal best.
Overall, Orner is happy with the teams’ performances this year.
He mentioned that the teams have perservered after several athletes were hit with the flu virus in recent weeks.
“Although our times and marks haven’t been up to what we expect by this time of the year, the team has competed really well,” Orner said. “They’ve given 100 percent regardless of how they’ve felt, and the effort has been there.”
Two meets are set to happen this weekend. One is the Meyo Invitational at Notre Dame and the other is the Akron Invitational in Akron.
Three runners from the women’s side, Clayworth, Britton and Sinning will compete in the 5,000 at Notre Dame.
By: Donnie Menke ~Staff Writer~