Indoor track season commences
The St. Joe’s men’s and women’s track and field teams opened their indoor season on Dec. 2 at the Jack Pyrah Invitational hosted by Villanova University. The men finished first in a field of four teams, totaling 108 points, while the women finished third in a field of four teams with 70 points.
For the men, the season started out on a high note as senior Steve Thompson won the 800 meter. Thompson ran the 800 in 1:58.08, beating out 13 other runners. It was his fifth career 800 win. The crimson and gray dominated the 800 with seven of the top 10 runners. Freshman Stephan McClellan and senior Dan Ferraiolo took home the second and third spots behind Thompson, respectively.
“It felt really good,” Thompson said. “We treat this meet as kind of a rustbuster and an opportunity to go out there and be competitive and not really chase after sharp times, but to get good habits back into the mix.”
As a senior, Thompson knows he will be looked at as a leader for the men’s squad.
“I think a big part of leadership is showing the younger guys that you have to be out there in practice and developing these good habits where you’re always being competitive and always pushing really hard to the line,” he said.
Thompson wasn’t the only one who took home a top spot. Sophomore Christian Roberts placed first in the mile run in a field of seven runners, putting in a collegiate best time of 4:23.91.
Other exceptional performances included junior Dylan Eddinger placing third in the 1000 meters with a time of 2:32.83 and sophomore Justin Moscoe and senior Kenny Evely placing third and fourth in the 300 meters respectively. The group of Moscoe, Evely, senior David Henderson and sophomore Trae’ Robinson placed second in the 4×400 meter relay with a time of 3:23.00.
For the women, sophomore Caroline Duffy dazzled as she finished sixth in the 60 meters with a time of 8.00, third in the 300 meters at 41.20 and also had a part in the Hawks’ second place finish in the 4×400 meter relay. Duffy recorded 11 points in the individual events.
“For personal goals, I’d just like to improve in events I did last year as a freshman and relay wise just keep it strong,” Duffy said. “Just keep showing up for meets, just representing Saint Joseph’s to the best of my ability.”
Junior Nathaniela Bourdeau finished fifth in the 60 meters with a time of 7.75, while senior Stephanie Toland placed ninth in the 300 meters in 42.97. Sophomore Tamar Bourdeau finished third in the 500 meters, scoring a time of 1:21:83, while sophomore Maggie McGuire placed fourth in the 800 meters in 2:24.32. Senior Claudine Andre finished third in a field of 14 in the long jump, with 5.26 meters.
The core of Nathaniela Bourdeau, Duffy, Toland and junior Kelly Liebl led the way for a second place finish in a field of 9 in the 4×400 meter relay, placing a time of 3:58.55.
Toland said the team was nervous going into the meet.
“It’s the season opener, and you never know how it’s going to go,” Tolland said. “This is basically a checkpoint to see where you are. During practice we knew we were ready to go, and I think we all did really well.”
Toland also stressed improvement as a goal for the team this indoor season.
“Definitely to have a lot of girls qualify for ECAC [Eastern College Athletic Conference],” she said. “We also just want to improve overall PRs [personal records] and just have everyone perform better than they have in the past.”
The men and women have a break for the holidays and get back to the action on Jan. 5 at Wagner College in Staten Island, New York for the Wagner College Invitational.
