Ashley Lage | Staff Writer
This past weekend, the Buena Vista University (BVU) men’s and women’s indoor track teams traveled to Dubuque to compete in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) indoor track conference meet. Both teams placed their best in three years. The women captured fifth place, and the men finished seventh.
Top highlights from the weekend include the men’s 4×800 team of senior Andrew Smith, senior Garrett Woodson, sophomore Ben Berberich, and sophomore Seth Woodson taking home the title, as well as establishing a new IIAC and school record with the time of 7:52.15. A main highlight for the women was the women’s 4×200 team breaking the school record. The team of junior Casey James, junior Maggie Marker, senior Katie Larsen, and junior Laura Eberly ran a time of 1:46.09, taking off almost two seconds from their average time.
Other impressive finishes include senior Nolan Sampson in the high jump finishing fifth with a jump of 6’5¼”. Head Track and Field Coach Jeff Brennan said he considered Sampson as a surprising newcomer, as he had not jumped indoor before.
For the women, senior Rachel Burnette placed fifth in the 55-meter hurdles, and junior Maggie Marker took third in the open 200.
Overall, the indoor season was considered a success.
“It went quite well,” Eberly sad. “It was nice having three home meets, so we did not have to travel as much this year.”
Newcomers and freshmen have made an impact on the teams.
“Garrett Woodson is now running five to six seconds faster than he was last year, along with Molly Hutchins (junior) improving with the weight throw,” Brennan said. “Tina Ageson, as a freshman, improved in the weight throw as well.”
Next up for the Beaver track and field team is the outdoor season, which is scheduled to start March 4. BVU will be hosting the Beaver Relays April 6. Before then, the team is taking a trip to St. Louis over spring break to compete.
Brennan and other members of the track team have high expectations going into the outdoor season and are looking to place high within the conference.
Graphic by Keyla Sosa
