The women’s track and field team sped past intense competitors to take the title at the Windy City Rumble this past Saturday. The women’s team garnered 119 points and placed first out of 11 teams by a large margin, with the runner-up Loyola University, a DI team, scoring 86 points. The men’s team missed out at first place by seven points, placing second behind DI Valparaiso University, which won first out of 10 teams with 165 points.

The winning women’s team had two first-place finishes on Saturday. One came from fourth-year thrower Nkemdilim Nwaokolo who threw 16.28m during the weight throw event. The other first place finish of the day came from the 4×400-meter relay that finished in 3:58.87. The team consisted of fourth-year Alison Pildner, first-year Alexandra Thompson, first-year Emma Koether, and fourth-year Rebecca Askins-Gast. A quartet of second-place finishes came from second-year long jumper Vivian Barclay who launched herself 5.16m, second-year pole vaulter Angel Fluet of 3.37m, fourth-year 800-meter runner Brianna Hickey of 2:18.32, and first-year 400-meter runner Emma Koether of 59.37. The women’s team also grabbed four third-place finishes.

The men’s team had three first-place finishes, accompanied by seven second-place finishes. Sprinters second-year Temisan Osowa (60-meter) and fourth-year Jacob Romeo (200-meter) both finished in first place with times of 7.14 and 23.06, respectively. Second-year hurdler Will Ackerman won first place in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.74, and placed second in the high jump successfully clearing 1.86m. Distance runners scored four second-place finishes including the distance medley relay (10:38.73), ran by second-year Jacob Amiri, first-year Benjamin Chaimberg, third-year Nicholas Nielsen, and second-year Peter Kreuch. Distance runners also accounted for three third-place finishes as well.  For the throwers, third-year Andrew Maneval came in second, hauling the shot put 14.72 m.

“This weekend put both teams in a great position for the upcoming post season that is quickly approaching. The team felt excited and confident about the Division I competition going into the meet and were ecstatic about the wins on both sides,” Amiri said.

The next week will take place this weekend on February 12 and 13 at the Chicagoland Championships in Naperville, IL. The women compete at 5 p.m. on Friday, while the men compete at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday.