This Saturday, February 17, the University of Chicago men and women’s track teams will host and compete at the Margaret Bradley Indoor Invitational. The Maroons look to continue their strong start to the indoor season and to take home victories at the third and final home meet of the year.
Both the men’s and women’s teams have gotten off to a hot start this season, with the women’s team ranked fourth in the DIII Midwest Region, and the men’s team ranked 13th in the Midwest Region. Over the past two weekends, the Maroons have competed and performed well, with the women’s team taking home a first-place finish at the Windy City Invitational on February 3, and the men’s team second, as well as last weekend at the Wisconsin–Whitewater Midwest Invite, where the women finished second out of eight teams, and the men seventh. Second-year mid-distance runner Joe Previdi reflected on the hard work that the team has put in so far, “The team has progressed exactly as we’ve wanted to through the season. In workouts, the middle-distance squad has been consistent and deliberate, and we’re seeing the payoff in good races all around. We consider the indoor and outdoor seasons as one long training cycle, and I feel like we’re exactly where we need to be and have a lot of momentum.”
First-year mid-distance runner Katie Jasminski echoed Previdi, and emphasized the improvement that the team has made over the course of the year. “I think the team has made huge progress throughout the season. We started out strong, and have continually to improve as the season has progressed as we increased our training intensity.”
Last year at the Margaret Bradley Invitational, UChicago finished first in both the men’s and women’s team standings, with the men winning three straight and the women with seven in a row dating back to 2011. Both teams will strive to build on these win streaks and get a few last runs in with the UAA Indoor Championships and Division III Indoor Championships on the horizon. The Margaret Bradley Invitational is a chance for both teams to highlight the growth and success that they have experience over the past month and a half. “It has been an amazing season across all events and I think that the great team dynamic and training intensity will serve the team really well this weekend and lead to many great performances,” Jasminski said.
Previdi, excited for the final home meet, added, “This meet should be more of a fun, quick competition to lead us into postseason. We have conference championships next weekend which our team is really excited about. So, this week we are trying to get in quality races to boost confidence, or, for those of us who won’t be at conference, finishing up indoor season well to lead into outdoor training. We’re definitely ready to crush this weekend.”
*The Maroons will begin competition this Saturday at 11:30 a.m. at Henry Crown Field House.*
