During a busy weekend, the men’s and women’s track and field teams saw three school records fall. At the Valentine Invitational, held at Boston University, Jeremy Lee and Chad Roberts both set new school records. Lee set a new record in the mile run with a time of 4:15, while Chad Roberts broke the school record in the 5000m run with a time of 14:53.
The Dragons sent the majority of their squad to the Baldwin-Wallace Invitational, where the teams won nine competitions. The highlight of the event was freshman Jasmine Hopkins school record-breaking performance in the 55m dash, where she won the event in 7.32 seconds, just ahead of teammate Andrea Bader’s 7.35 time. Despite losing out to Hopkins, Bader won the women’s 55m hurdles in 8.79 seconds and the 300m dash in 43.60 seconds. Kristen Ameling won the shot put event with a score of 12.8m, besting teammate Cara Roach (11.88m). The Dragons earned the top five scores in the women’s weight throw competition, with Christine Moyer (14.42m) defeating teammates Rachel Fitzwater (14.39m), Melissa Jones (13.82m), Kathy Kernen (13.82m), and Ameling (13.09m).
On the men’s side at Baldwin-Wallace, Michael Ballistrea won the 300m dash in 35.8 seconds, while Ramone Brant won the 55m hurdles with a time of 8.01 seconds. Brett Rieke won the pole vault with a score of 4.4 meters, while Cameron Lewis won the weight throw with a score of 15.23 meters. The Dragons 4x400m relay team of Ballistrea, James Carlson, Jason Schelnick, and Marcus Johnson placed second in the event behind Thiel College with a time of 3:30.06.
At the Oberlin College Invitational, Jess Clark and Dom O’Neill had top-five finishes for the Dragons. Clark finished fifth in the 3000m run with a time of 11:37, while O’Neill placed fourth in the 800m run with a time of 2:05.