Hamline’s Track and Field held a meet on the infamous day of love, Valentine’s Day, which landed on Sat, Feb. 14. Hamline track athletes will be heading down to Carleton to compete in Carleton’s ‘Meet Of The Hearts’. Our Pipers will be going against colleges like Gustavus Adolphus, Martin Luther and Macalester, to name a few.
After a first place victory for the Pipers at their last meet, and being only weeks away from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Indoor Championships, it would be normal to begin to put more pressure on these last two meets; however, Women’s Track and Field Head Coach Vaughn Tackmann explained how to keep extra pressure off during the end of indoor season.
“We do our best to treat every meet the same,” Tackmann said, “The Carleton meet this weekend is just another opportunity for us to go out and get better. We feel really good about where we are currently with the team, so we are just excited to get another competition under our belts.”
This will be Tackmann’s fifth season as Head Coach for the Women’s team and the Assistant Coach of the Men’s team. He has an accomplished record, with 22 MIAC finishes and nine national qualifiers throughout his time as head coach. His record numbers will continue to rise with some standout performers, like fifth-year Lexi Brainer.
Brainer, a third place finisher at last year’s MIAC Indoor Championship and a Hamline record breaker, was at the University of Minnesota’s Jack John Classic when she threw an impressive 17.71 meters, breaking a record set in 2000 by national champion weight thrower April Felta.
“It’s crazy to even think about. Breaking a national champion record, it’s so surreal and exciting to accomplish a goal you’ve been working towards for so long,” Brainer said when asked about how it felt to hold a school record.
However, Brainer is not finished, she believes that through more hard work, she can accomplish even more within the track season. Brainer knows that with the MIAC coming up, her competition will keep her determined to keep improving.
With the success of Brainer and other upperclassmen, senior thrower Doug Gill has a Top 25 record for weight throw at 15.18 meters; the upperclassmen have become examples for the underclassmen. First-year sprinter Daysely Zulu spoke on how his upperclassmen have been an inspiration to him during his first year.
“They have become quick resources and close friends. They made me feel comfortable and made me desire to compete,” Zulu said.
Having the confidence of his teammates and his coaches, Zulu hopes to place at least 6th in conference for a chance to long jump at MIAC.
Their final meet outside of MIACs and Nationals will be the Tostrud Classic, on Feb. 20. The track team is still growing as athletes, with over 20 personal records broken during the last meet; the growth from our athletes will continue in the final weeks of indoor to their outdoor season.
