By Charlie Gstalder, Opinions Editor

Xavier’s track and field teams competed in the Big East Indoor Championship over the weekend, with the men’s team playing eighth and the women’s team taking ninth. 

In track and field meets, winning teams are determined on a point basis. In the NCAA, the top eight finishers in each event score points for their teams with first and second place earning 10 and eight points, and places three through eight earning one through six points. On the men’s side, points were scored through stellar relay performances. The 4×400 meter relay team of Jeremy Johnson, CJ Thimons, Sean Beam and Michal Henning ran 3:21.58, good enough for sixth place and half the team’s total score. 

The 4×800 meter relay team of Will Garey, Colin Lantz, Jake Prestileo and Adrian Stuphan finished in 8:01 flat, securing seventh place. Meanwhile, the Distance Medley Relay (DMR) team of Prestileo, Johnson, Lantz and Stuphan recorded a 10.22.94 eighth place finish, earning the men’s team its final point. 

In indoor track, the DMR is composed of a 1200 meter leg, a 400 meter leg, an 800 meter leg and an anchoring 1600 meter leg. Xavier had no competitors in the men’s field events.

The women’s team earned six points in the same events as the men’s team. 

The women’s 4×400 meter relay team of Courtney Klatt, Haley Morgan, Alaina Sullivan and Parker Hopkins finished eighth in a time of 3:59.02. Klatt and Hopkins returned alongside Sydny Warner and Allyson Arellano to secure sixth in the 4×800 meter  with a 9:13.51 finish. Hopkins, Sullivan, Warner and Arellano scored the team’s final two points with their 12:04.11 finish in the DMR.Overall, Connecticut swept the meet, winning the men’s and women’s titles while outscoring the second place teams by 128 and 62.5 points respectively.