Although relatively young program, this year’s edition of the Saint Louis University Track and Field team has been setting the bar high for teams to come. Through the indoor season up to this point, the team has already bested 23 SLU records.
On the men’s side, senior Justin Kwasa has been continuously improving his SLU best marks in the weight throw and the shot-put event. At the Illini Open on Jan. 15, Kwasa broke his own school record with a shot-put throw of 45 feet, 11.75 inches en route to a fifth-place finish. That same day, Kwasa topped another school record, this time in the weight throw. His 60 feet, 8 inches effort earned him second place in the event.
However, despite his record-setting performances, Kwasa knows that there is room for improvement to set the bar even higher for the program.
“It really is not as exciting as we might think because we’re still a young program. It’s kind of like we’re trying to cement our place in the program. We’re trying to get all of our records up to a point so that it will be a meaningful thing and that someone will have to work really hard to break them,” Kwasa said.
Despite this, the team’s achievements are not lost on him.
“As a team, we’re doing pretty well breaking these records. Right now we’re in good position,” Kwasa said.
Senior Brian Holdmeyer has been another member of the men’s squad rewriting the record books, and in the process earned the Atlantic 10 men’s indoor track and field Performer of the Week award on Jan. 24.
“I was very pleased to receive the award. It just shows that I am getting where I want to be in the conference heading into the A-10 championships. It is a huge confidence boost knowing that I am there with the top guys in the conference, and it helps to have credentials by my name,” Holdmeyer said.
Holdmeyer owns three SLU records in distance races: the mile run, the 3000-meter run and the 5000-meter run. Along with besting the school times, Holdmeyer has placed highly at multiple events this year, winning the 3000-meter run at the Missouri Inivtational, third in the mile at the Illini Open and first in the 5000-meters at the Gladstein Invitational.
Holdmeyer attributes his success to grueling work on the track and in the weight room during the offseason.
“A lot of it is just progression from four years in the weight room. Now we’re doing a lot more advanced weightlifting from what we’ve done in previous years. I have also been doing a lot more mileage than I have in the past. That gives me the aerobic ability to run at a faster and more efficient pace comfortably,” Holdmeyer said.
As a high-level performer on both the cross country and outdoor track and field teams, Holdmeyer acknowledges the difference between indoor and outdoor competition.
“It’s different. The environment is controlled, there’s no wind, and the races are a lot more tactical. The track is a lot smaller, so there is a lot more pushing and shoving … there is not a chance for the race to spread out as much,” Holdmeyer said of indoor competition.
On the women’s side, the season started off with freshman Margo Richardson earning a bid to the USA Junior Track and Field Championships in Oregon. At the Illinois State Early Bird Open on Dec. 5,, her very first collegiate track and field meet, she won the three-kilometer run with a time of 10:15.94. Her time in the event was the 11th best score in the nation, and it earned her the distinction of A-10 rookie of the week on Dec. 6.
At the same event, senior Brittney Cloudy placed first in both the triple jump and the long jump, with her triple jump distance of 40 feet, 2.25 inches, breaking her own school record. Cloudy is the two-time defending A-10 triple jump champion.
Cloudy has been dominant in the triple jump all year, winning the event at the Missouri Invitational, Kansas State Invitational, the Illini Open and the Gladstein Invitational. At Gladstein, Cloudy posted a career and SLU best mark of 40 feet, 3.5 inches.
“First and foremost, the goal in every meet is to execute in competition,” Cloudy said. “My goal is to continue to accomplish and execute and continue on holding the title as A-10 champ.”
On Feb. 4, the teams head to Lincoln, Neb., to participate in the ultra-competitive Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational. Seven nationally ranked teams will be competing in the event.
“It is a great meet to go to before conference. It is a highly competitive meet. Everyone’s getting better at each meet, and I look at Nebraska as an opportunity to get better,” Cloudy said.
Because of the stiff competition at the event, Holdmeyer knows to keep a level head.
“The main thing is to keep a calm outlook going there. There are some teams there that we have never ran against, a lot of Big Ten and Big 12 teams. Usually some professional athletes compete there too, so you need to keep a calm outlook on it, keep within yourself, keep focused on your goals and not get caught up in it,” Holdmeyer said.
