George Mason University was home to the Atlantic 10 Conference Indoor Track Championships. SLU had nine medalists, and also managed to break several school records. The men’s team finished a program-best fourth place, while the women’s team finished 12th.
The women’s 4×800 relay team finished third overall, with a time of 9:08.08. The team was composed of junior Katherine Kelly, senior Emma Kidd, senior Hannah Rohde and junior Elise Moore. Meanwhile, in the long-distance events, sophomore Manuel de Backer finished second with a time of 8:28.20, and senior Hiob Gebisso finished third with a time of 8:29.13.
The 1,000 meters saw sophomore Colton Nettleton finish third, with a time of 2:31.65. Meanwhile, senior Griffin McCurren finished third in the 500 meters with a school record of 1:03.72.
In the field events, senior Michael Reader finished third in the long jump of 1.99 meters, a SLU record. Sophomore Jaryn Blackshear-Bryant also improved his school record in the heptathlon, recording 4,455 points.
Head coach Jon Bell was pleased with the results of the meet and the fight that both teams showed in their races. “There is no question this was the best performance in program history for the men. They all competed hard and contributed to our fourth-place finish. It was a total team effort,” he said.
Next up for SLU Track will be the outdoor track season, which will begin with the Billiken Kickoff at the SLU Medical Center Stadium on March 17-18.
