Men’s and women’s track teams take on two meets
The men’s and women’s track and field teams competed at Temple University for the Temple Owls Invitational on April 13 and the Rider Invitational at their new Michael P. Brady Track and Field Facility on April 14.
Friday’s action for the men was led by qualifying runs in the 800 m by senior Steve Thompson, junior Dylan Eddinger and senior Dan Ferraiolo, placing third, fifth , and sixth respectively. Freshman Stephen McClellan (1:54.19 PR) finished eighth out of a field of 22.
In his first 5000 m race of the season, senior David Dorsey finished seventh out of 14 runners with a time of 15:20.63.
While winning is always the goal, head coach Mike Glavin believes getting better as the season progresses is first and foremost.
“Improving is a major concern for these guys,” Glavin said. “They are all on different levels, and I know some of them simply weren’t up to par with what they are capable of.”
For the women, junior Lucy Harmon led the seven St. Joe’s runners in the 1500 m with a time of 4:40.35, which was good for eighth overall. Junior Lindsey Oremus set a season-best with 4:46.01 and finished 13th out of 25.
On April 14, both teams shined with qualifying times in their respective 4x100s, with the women also taking wins the 100 m and 200 m races.
Freshman Sebastian Eaton, sophomore David Bryant and seniors David Henderson and Kenny Evely led the way in the 4×100 with 41.92, which was just .38 seconds shy of the school record. Henderson, along with sophomore Trae Robinson, also qualified in the 400 m with third and fourth place finishes.
Junior Nathaniela Bourdeau anchored in the women’s qualifying 4×100 team and took first in the 100 m and 200 m. Bourdeau has now won the 100 m for the third time and the 200 m twice at the Rider Invitational. Before running the 200 m, however, Bourdeau started to feel hesitant as the heat was starting to get to her. All she needed was a little push from her coaches, and it paid off.
“Sometimes I get in my head like that, and they [head coach Melody O’Reilly and assistant coach Teddy Meyers] were like ‘You’re running it,’” Bourdeau said. “For me, I feel I do a good job of holding myself together, but other times, I do feel I need someone to tell me no, this is what you’re going to do, and that’s exactly what they did for me.”
In the 800 m and 1500 m, it is noticeable that the team fell short of their competition. While the times look concerning, O’Reilly is not too bothered with the results.
“It was the first hot day of the year, and it only continued to get worse by the afternoon,” O’Reilly said. “The heat gets to the athletes, so there really is no concern if there was a slight drop in performance.”
There is still a long way to go until the end of the season, and the team still has plenty of time left to improve.
“We’re basically right where we ended last year,” Bourdeau said. “I think we’re a much stronger team, so I’m really excited to move forward.”
Both the men’s and women’s squads will return to action at the Larry Ellis Invitational in Princeton, N.J. on April 20.
