Both the men’s and the women’s track and field teams are ready to compete for the UAA championship. Last year, the men finished in fourth place while the women were narrowly beaten by Wash U to place second.
Both teams are coming off convincing victories at last week’s Margaret Bradley Invitational and hope that they can showcase the same dominance this coming weekend. After sweeping the field, several Maroons were lauded with accolades, including fourth-year pole-vaulter Nathan Downey, who was awarded UAA Track and Field Athlete of the Week for his school-record performance.
It is clear the Maroons cannot wait to get to Case Western and start competing. “I couldn’t be more excited to be going to conference as a first-year. I haven’t had the opportunity to compete against most of the teams in our conference, so getting exposed to UAA vaulters will absolutely be strong competition,” said first-year pole-vaulter Sidney Lampert.
Fellow first-year sprinter Erin Abbot said, “We’re excited to be finishing up a successful indoor season with so many athletes heading to conference and then nationals. This season, every aspect of the team saw improvement and success, with several personal records and school records. We are all extremely excited to take the momentum we have into UAAs and then again into our outdoor season.”
Standout third-year and two-time All-American Emma Koether said, “After coming in second last year to our rivals, Wash U, we are definitely looking to improve upon last year’s performances. We have competed against Wash U twice so far this season, and each time it has been incredibly even matched. I’m looking forward to see how we show up at champs and am confident great things are in store for our team.”
The men also hold their share of excitement as first-year sprinter Jack Renton gears up for his first conference championship. He said, “Our team has been physically and mentally preparing to compete for the conference title all year. It just comes down to ignoring the noise and doing our jobs. We know we have a shot to win this.” The men’s team has a lot of young talent and fully expects to see a stronger finish than last year’s fourth-place result.
The Maroons are primed and ready to translate all their success and hard work this winter into tangible success: a UAA conference trophy.
