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Men and women’s track and field opened their indoor seasons with losses to the UW–Oshkosh at Henry Crown Field House on Saturday, January 15. The men’s team suffered a 98–55 loss while the women’s team was barely edged out 82–79.

Fourth-years Dipti Karmarkar and Kristin Constantine met the NCAA D-III provisional qualifying standard in the triple jump and weight throw respectively, while fourth-year Drew Jackson met the NCAA automatic qualifying standard in the triple jump. For his performance, Jackson was selected as the University Athletic Association Athlete of the Week for men’s indoor track and field. Constantine was also selected as the University Athletic Association Athlete of the Week for women’s indoor track and field.

Jackson’s jump of 14.94 meters was only 0.18 meters short of the jump that earned him second place at last year’s outdoor national meet. Jackson’s ability to jump a similar height this early in the season in an inconsequential meet against weaker opponents speaks volumes for his future success. Fellow fourth-year triple-jumper Jacob Solus did not compete, but qualified for the indoor national meet last year. When both are jumping, they form one of the most potent duos in the UAA.

The men’s team was led by victories from Jackson as well as victories from second-year Isaac Dalke and second-year Dee Brizzolara in the 3,000-meter run and 55- and 200-meter dashes respectively.

Although the loss for the men’s team seemed as if it was by a large margin, members of the team were not overly concerned.

“The main point of this weekend was to get everybody out competing,” Dalke said.

The men’s team hopes that performances peak towards the end of the season.

“If people are better now than at the end of the season, then they are in bad shape,” Dalke said.

The women’s team, aside from Karmarkar and Constantine, was led by event winners fourth-year Liz Lawton in the 3,000-meter run, fourth-year Molly Peverada in the 5,000-meter run, second-year Emily Hren in the high jump, fourth-year Stephanie Omueti in the 200-meter dash, and first-year Jennifer Porter in the 400-meter dash.

Lawton’s time of 9:59.62 outpaced her next closest opponent, third-year teammate Rachel Ohman, by almost 40 seconds. The time is a good indicator of future success; Lawton ran a similar time last year at this meet and went on to win both the 5,000-and-10,000-meter runs at the outdoor national meet.

The Maroons will travel to Naperville tomorrow to compete at the North Central Invite, with events beginning at 5 p.m.