On Friday evening the Principia College track and field team travelled to Jacksonville, IL for Illinois College's Hilltop Classic for some final competition before conference. For most of the team it was the first meet in two weeks. It proved to be a quality day for many athletes and an absolutely incredible day for one man.
As usual, several members had to leave earlier than everyone else since field events start over an hour before the track events. First up was Wisdom Thomas in the long jump. He opened the meet up and his first jump went 8 centimeters further than his previous PR. He ended up with several good jumps, but the first of the day was the winning jump. His 6.98 meter leap (22' 10 ¾") moved him from third into second on Principia's all-time best indoor marks. He moved past Jonathan Ansumana by five centimeters and now trails Richard Bonsi's record by 14 centimeters. Making Friday's competition extra special was that Bonsi, who graduated in 2016, was participating in the meet unattached and finished with a 6.74 meter leap. One other note is that Wisdom's long jump performance moves him into 34th in the nation for NCAA Division III. After the long jump, Wisdom had a significant break, and then it was time for the triple jump where he was seeded first overall at the start the competition. Unfortunately, it didn't finish that way as he finished third. Still, it was a great night. While he only managed to get one fair jump at 13.52 meters (44' 4 ¼") in the preliminary rounds, this broke his own school record by three centimeters (1 inch)! Two PR's in one night is a great night!
Marc Trinidad was also an early competitor in the pole vault. It turned out to be a fantastic day for him also as he sailed over the bar 3.55 meters (11' 7 ¾") above the ground. This was a five centimeter PR.
It was another field event that brought about an absolutely incredible performance. We said goodbye to one of our throwers on Thursday (Stan Ott) as he headed off to Nepal for a Principia abroad. What Stan missed was an absolutely amazing evening for Chris Puduski. Chris started the year off with a PR by 2 centimeters in the weight throw. Then he set the school record when he set a PR by .6 meters. Last week things didn't quite come together. However, in this competition Chris unleashed the 35 pound weight 1.85 meters (6' ¾") further than he'd ever thrown before. Chris took his school record from 14.28 meters (46' 10") to 16.13 (52' 11") meters in one throw!
While field events were still going on, the action kicked off on the track with the men's Distance Medley Relay. This consists of four runners each running a different distance. We decided to use the race to get some over distance training for the Quinn Heinbaugh running a 1200 meter (3/4 mile) and Nathan Babcock running a 1600 meter (about a mile) leg. Abe Ott got some speed training in by running the 400 meter portion. Plus, we finally got sophomore E.G. Pierce back in action with this event where he ran an 800 meter leg. The highlight of this race may have been Nathan running twice the distance that he is used to. He had to learn how to pace it and he ran well with a 4:46 mile.
Next up was the 400 meter dash. Abe, got to run another race demanding speed instead of his typical mile and 800 distances. He ran a new PR in 54.76 which beat his old time by .56 seconds.
After some longer distance races and the furthest sprint, we got to the shortest race competed collegiately, the 55-meter dash. Running in the first heat, Corey Carter started his night out with a PR by .02 seconds in the 55 meter dash. This also breaks his own school record. Chris Mwaura bested his previous PR by .14 seconds to finish in 6.94. Dean Colarossi tied his PR at 7.36 seconds. Mar Htay beat his PR by .14 seconds clocking in at 7.4 seconds. Alberto Montero also set a new PR by .04 seconds finishing in 8.07.
Several sprinters finished their 55 dashes and started prepping for the 200 meter dash. Chris Mwaura again set a new PR by .31 seconds crossing the line in 24.5 seconds. Mar also set a PR in the 200 at 28.31 beating his old time by .59 seconds. Alberto had the biggest improvement setting a new PR by .61 seconds finishing in 28.73. While he didn't run the 55, Mitchell Gill competed in his first track meet in two years finishing in 23.85 seconds.
Corey too ran an excellent race. Running in lane 6 Corey Carter finally got into the nationals conversation by winning in 22.37 seconds. This was a .43 second improvement from his best so far this year as he crossed the finish line .11 seconds ahead of the second place runner from Illinois College who defeated him two weeks ago on the same track. Ultimately, this race put him tied for 34th in the nation. He shares his 34th ranking with the man from Illinois College who ran his best time last week. Corey currently needs to improve by only .1 second to put him in the top 20 which qualifies. However, that amount is likely to change as there are still two weeks of qualifying meets. It does set up an exciting conference showdown with Jacob Ridenhour of Webster who currently has run 22.35 seconds and is ranked four spots higher.
After the sprints were finished, Chuy de la Cruz Jandette ran his first 800 meter ever. He finished in 2:23. While he wasn't excited about his time, his speed in the opening half of the race shows he is going to make some significant improvements in time as he gets stronger.
Finally, we closed out the meet with the 4x400 meter relay. Abe led off with his third 400 meter run of the day followed by Nathan who ran it for speed training but maybe moved himself into contention to be a fixture on the A team. Dean Colarossi ran a strong third leg and handed off to Corey. Corey ended the night with an exciting finish as he made up about 40 meters in the final 200 meters to pass Monmouth College at the finish line by .09 seconds. This put an exciting finish on a night that featured 13 PR's by our men!
Next Up
Principia will host the first ever indoor SLIAC championship on Saturday February 29! We've had a meet open to all teams for several years to close out February, but this year the conference had enough member schools with indoor teams (we've had an outdoor SLIAC championship for five seasons).
