p. The men’s and women’s track and field teams have recently begun the indoor competition season. The Tribe competed at George Mason University Jan. 27, and this past weekend at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
p. Both teams performed well at George Mason. Seniors Jason Schoener, Keith Bechtol and Matt Keally all qualified in the 3,000-meter run for the IC4A indoor championships by placing second, third and fourth. Brandon Evans placed second in the high jump by clearing 6’5.’’ On the women’s team senior Bonnie Meekins won the high jump competition by tying the ECAC indoor championships record at a height of 5’7,’’ qualifying for the ECAC Championships in the event.
p. “I’m looking forward to competing at ECACs because I’ve been having a good season so far and I’m ready to put it all together and knock out a great performance,” Meekins said. “This will be my last indoor meet of my college career, so it’s important for me that it go well.”
p. The women’s distance medley relay team placed third with a cumulative time of 12 minutes, 41.62 seconds. Both Alyssa Gaeto and Carly Morse reached the school’s top-10 lists in the 60-m dash and shot put, respectively.
p. This weekend at Chapel Hill the Tribe continued its excellent start to their indoor competition schedule. On the men’s side, freshman Marty Ross broke the school’s freshman record in the 60-m hurdles with a time of 8.85 seconds.
p. The women’s junior runner, Allie Lewis, placed third in the 800-m run with a time of 2:14.39, qualifying for the ECAC indoor championships. Senior Jen Showker took second place in the shot put with a put of 44-0.75, and freshman Carly Morse placed fourth in the event with put of 43-0.5.
p. With an excellent start to their indoor season, the coaching staff is feeling quite optimistic about the future and is proud of the achievements that its athletes have already attained.
Women’s head coach Kathy Newberry said, “right now we are pretty pleased” with the team’s progress.
p. Coach Newberry cited the difficulty of coming back into competition after a long winter break and was impressed with the way her “young squad had taken big steps forward.”
p. Men’s head coach Alex Gibby said that his team has had some “good early performances,” and that there has been a “high level of accomplishment at this early juncture.”
p. Both coaches agree that their teams’ next big test will be at Virginia Tech two weekends from now. The Tribe will compete at the Vince Brown Invitational in Newport News this coming weekend.
