By Jon Pressman ’14, Staff Writer
In their first home meet of the 2014 season, the Franklin & Marshall men’s and women’s track & field teams registered some impressive finishes, including a record-shattering throw in the shot put by Maya Jackson ’17.
In just her third collegiate competition, Jackson broke the previous school record of 12.25 meters set by Alyssa Catalano ’09 with a winning toss of 12.44 meters.
Though the meet was a non-team scoring event, F&M runners, jumpers, and throwers came out on top in several events.
On the men’s side, Evan Friend ’16 put on a show in both the 55 and 200-meter dashes for the second week in a row, claiming first place in both events with times of 6.79 and 23.51 seconds, respectively. Brad Krell ’16 and Alex Osei ’16 took second and fourth, setting personal bests for the season.
In the field, Vincent Acosta ’15 threw his way to an all-time personal best for the second week in a row with a distance of 13.73 meters, while Bob McCarron ’15 took silver with a throw of 11.85 meters.
The men’s 4×400-meter relay consisting of twins Greg ’15 and Luk ’15 Olenginski, Leo Generali ’15, and Krell cruised to an easy first-place finish with a time of three minutes 35.83 seconds.
In the jumps, Teddy Uzamere ’16 beat out the competition in the high jump for yet another first-place finish for the Diplomats, leaping five feet seven inches. Nick Fromell ’14 took a pair of second-place finishes in the long and triple jump.
Coming off of a long and frigid season of cross-country, Luk Olenginski, captain of the men’s Track and Field team, was pleased with the effort of the distance squad.
“It was fun and a good chance to compete at home,” Olenginski said.
He noted further that the team is focusing on working hard in preparation for upcoming meets this season, namely the Centennial Conference Championships, which are set to take place the first week in March.
The women’s team was highlighted by first-place finishes from Jackson in the shot put, Rebecca Swisher ’16 in the pole vault, Samantha Greenberg ’14 in the 55-meter hurdles, and Kim Hilfrank ’15 in the 1,000 meter-run.
In the mile, it was all blue and white as Mallory Reed ’15 led the pack of Dips with a time of five minutes 45 seconds, followed by Caroline Stein ’15, Brielle Stander ’17, and Jessica Love ’15.
Several F&M runners, jumpers, and throwers are sitting in the national rankings and will hope to make the trip to Lincoln, Neb. on March 14 for the Indoor National Championships.
Among the men’s national rankings, Fromell currently holds the number 48 spot in the triple jump, with Friend coming in at 63rd in the 200-meter dash.
For the women, Swisher’s jump of 3.50 meters from December is good for 10th place, with Morgan Gray ’16 rounding out the jumps with a 31st-place rank in the triple jump. Both are holding the top spots in the conference’s current rankings, while Jackson’s record- breaking throw this weekend puts her at the number-26 slot in the country and second in the Centennial Conference.
Samantha Greenberg ’14, captain of the women’s team, is happy about the recent wins as well as her teammates’ other achievements.
“Sam Walmer is seated really well in hurdles right now and Morgan is first as well as Centennial Conference Athlete of the Week for triple,” Greenberg said.
F&M will have the week off before returning to the track, as competition resumes on Saturday, Feb. 8, at the Crusader Classic hosted by Susquehanna University.
Senior Jonathan Pressman is a staff writer. His email is jpressma1@ fandm.edu.