TRACK AND FIELD
The Saint Louis University track and field season began on Jan. 12, as both the men’s and women’s teams got off to strong starts.
Last Saturday, Jan. 27, the Bills competed in the Health Alliance Classic hosted by the University of Illinois.
The men placed seventh and the women ninth. For the women, Bridget Schultzman finished sixth in the 800-meter dash with a time of 2:18.210, the highest finish of any Billiken on the day.
Mary Moloney finished the 3,000-meter race in 10:25.82, good for seventh. Junior Laura Coyer also managed seventh place in the mile, finishing in 5:20.96.
Two other runners, Annisa Reynolds and Sandy Inman, also placed in the Top 10 for the mile.
For the men, John Woodman finished seventh in the mile, leading all male runners.
Michael Hubbard finished just behind Woodman in eighth place. Austin Critchlow placed ninth in the 800-meter race with a time of 2:02.21.
Paul Lemon finished at 8:59.28 to finish eighth in the 3,000-meter contest.
Matt McKenney and Steve Vargas were right on his heels, crossing the finish line just seconds later.
Next, the team stayed indoors for the Eastern Illinois Mega Meet. Moloney again led the team, and nearly set the new Atlanrtic 10 standard. She finished the 5,000-meter race with a time of 18:13.83, the second-best finish this season in the Atlantic 10.
Schultzman, too, finished first, running the 1,000 in 3:04.02, placing her third in the A-10 this season.
Reynolds also placed well, taking a third-place finish in the 1,000 with a time of 3:12.12.
Inman finished fifth in that race with a time of 3:15.19.
In the 5,000, the Bills placed two in the top five, with Laura Hamilton finishing second (19:02.58) and Shannon Bixler taking third place (19:17.86).
For the men, Matt Alexander placed fourth in the 400-meter race with a time of 51.49.
Paul Lemon’s time of 15:55.40 was good enough for a fourth place finish in the 5,000-meter race.
Lucas Roethlisberger chipped in with a fifth-place finish in the 1,000 meter (2:42.17). Woodman completed the same race in 2:50.60. Mat Stuber placed sixth in the mile with a time of 4:40.92.
In the season opening event, Moloney and Schultzman recorded third-place finishes to pace the Billikens.
Schultzman finished the 800-meter dash in 2:20.13 and Moloney finished the 3,000-meter race in 10:27.05.
Three other Billikens joined Moloney among the top 10 finishers in the 3,000-meter race. Coyer placed fifth (10:43.84), Hamilton eighth and Bixler ninth.
For the men, Woodman recorded the best finish, placing eighth in the 1,000-meter.
WOMEN’S TENNIS
After starting off the spring season with a 4-3 win over Bradley, the Saint Louis University women’s tennis team struggled against Missouri, losing 7-0.
While the Missouri match was nothing to brag about, the Billikens shined against Bradley.
The doubles teams dominated the day.
Both teams put together a strong showing to help SLU capture the hotly-contested match.
The team of Tara Grant and Katerina Lozanova captured an early 8-4 victory.
Later on, the team of Jo Becker and Ana Renda captured another doubles victory by the same margin.
The third-ranked doubles team of Caitlin Bokulic and Rachel McCullagh won 8-6.
Several players also won their singles matches: Lozanova (6-4, 7-5), Renda (6-1, 6-3) and Becker (6-4, 6-3).
The team is struggling to find an identity after losing former number-one singles player Amanda Hellberg.
The loss has forced every player to play out of position, handicapping the entire unit.
The squad remains confident despite the shutout at the hands of Missouri, and is looking forward to their first road trip.
The Billikens will square off against Arkansas in Fayetteville on Feb. 3. SLU then travels further south to Sam Houston State, where they will compete against the Bearkats.
