After an outstanding indoor season, the Hamline University Track and Field is off to a great start with its outdoor season. With the first competition being held at home on Klas Field, there is truly no better way to start off with a bang.
The meet, which was held here at Hamline University on March 30, was a fantastic start for the Pipers. The home advantage was shown especially in the jumping and field events. With standouts including sophomore Isaiah Watson, who just completed an outstanding indoor season, being named 1st Team All-American. His outdoor season may be headed in the same direction, with him receiving the meet title in the triple jump.
Junior Austin Scholeder also received a title for pole vault, with him clearing 4.50 meters, a very impressive showing for the first meet. On the women’s side, first-year Mabel Badejo also achieved her first outdoor meet title, winning the long jump with an impressive jump of 5.32 meters.
On the track side, there were also several great performances. Junior Morris Suah had a pair of top three finishes in both hurdling events. With a second place title in the 400 meter hurdles and a third place title in the 110 meter hurdles. First-year Jukari Blackshere and sophomore Manny Poshver placed 5th and 6th, respectively, in the 100 meter dash.
On the women’s side, there was sophomore Claire Siems, who placed fifth in the 100 meter dash and fourth in the 200 meter dash, with her teammate, first-year Jaz Turnbaugh placing fifth. In the 400 meter hurdles, senior Brooke Baumann placed sixth. Taking fifth in the middle distance race in the 1500 meter run was junior and External News Editor Anabel Bradley. Overall, several impressive performances.
There were also several fantastic performances in the other field events as well. With sophomore Eddie Herman placing fourth in the men’s discus toss. First-year Dillion Thurston took fifth in the hammer throw. For women, sophomore Magenta Owens placed in the top ten in both hammer throw and discus throwing. While junior Marissa Albers placed fifth in the Javelin throw. In the jumping events, standouts included senior Josiah Budiman, who placed fourth in the long jump at 6.44 meters, as well as first-year Jesse Gaboury, taking third on the podium.
As impressive as the statistics are, it seems the most important part of this team is the community.
“Being around the people and in an environment where you are being pushed to succeed always, especially with the other vaulters and coaches, is nice,” Gaboury said.
“Everyone is always there to cheer you on for your event’s, even if they don’t really know how that one works. There is so much cheering in the best way possible,” Sophomore Alan Haglin said.
“This is the closest I have ever felt with a team sport, and watching everyone support one another is so nice, because even on my worst days, I still feel good because of the others on the team, and the support of the coaches,” First-year Sinnea Brown said.
It’s easy to see that this team is extremely close-knit, especially for being an individual sport in many ways; it is refreshing to see. This season has started out impressively, and it will be exciting to see where the rest of the season will go and what achievements, both individual and team wise, will be accomplished.
