The University of Chicago track teams maintained their dominance this weekend on home turf at the Henry Crown Field House. Indeed, the dominance is so telling that the South Siders have not finished outside the top two in team standings in the past 16 home meets at Henry Crown.
This week, the Maroons captured the team titles at the Margaret Bradley Invitational. The women’s team scored a whopping 262 points to coast to the title. The difference in quality was so much that the second place Carthage College could only muster up a relatively meager 107 points. The men’s side was closer, but the Maroons were able to take first place with 177 points, beating out second placed Aurora University who scored 138.5.
The women’s team had eight wins during the meet. The highlight was undoubtedly the performance of first-year pole vaulter Isabel Garon. Garon broke her own school record during the meet, reaching a height of 3.67 meters. In addition, third-year Cassidy McPherson won two events on the night: the 800 meters (2:17.97)and the 4-by-400 meters relay alongside second-year Jenna McKinney, third-year Megan Verner-Crist and first-year Shelby Smith. The relay team ended up with a time of 4:13.61.
The men’s team also did really well, clinching six of the events. Third-year Nathan Downey won both the 200 meters (22.72) and the pole vault (4.56 meters). Second-year Owen Melia also won two events, namely the 800 meters (1:58.08) and also was a part of the victorious 4×400-meter relay (3:35.20) with third-year Jacob Amiri, fourth-year Jeremy Ferguson and first-year Joe Previdi. In addition, second-year Jacob Gosselin grabbed the 3,000 meters (9:01.11) and third-year Patrick LeFevre captured the 60-meter hurdles (8.72).
Next week, the South Siders look forward to the UAA Championships in what will be a much sterner test. While the Maroons have been very strong at home, they have not had the same success on the road.
As a result, it will be interesting to see how the squad copes as the meet is at Waltham, MA. However, fourth-year Charissa Newkirk was optimistic of the team’s chances. “The meet this weekend was a good way to polish up our conference roster. I think a lot of people were pleased with their performances this weekend. We had many personal bests, including myself, andit really was a good way to end our last indoor meet at Henry Crown,” she said.
Indeed, this meet was the last indoor meet at Henry Crown for several Maroon fourth-years, and Newkirk reflected this nostagia. “I have spent a good portion of my college career in that building, and so it was a bittersweet feeling having our last home meet there, however I’m excited about conference this coming weekend and how our team will perform,” she said.
The meet is set to start next Saturday at 12 p.m. Eastern Time at Brandeis University.
