The team saw strong performances from many individuals despite being slightly behind the curve due to the cancellation of a meet at Southern Illinois University- Edwardsville.
“We haven’t competed since the indoor conference meet, and with the cancellation of last week’s meet, it was imperative that our student-athletes come out this weekend and put together some good performances,” head coach Jon Bell told the Billiken Media Relations department.
Numerous school records fell at the invitational, a recurring theme for this young track and field program. Senior Justin Kwasa, the defending indoor Atlantic 10 champion in the weight throw, dominated the competition at WashU and shattered his own record in two events.
In the weight throw, Kwasa posted a career and school best distance of 184 feet 7 meters, taking first in the event. He also set the school record in the shot put with a distance of 46 feet, 1.25 inches.
Brian Holdmeyer, the senior leader of the distance runners, broke his own school record in the 5 kilometer run with a time of 14:48.66, placing fifth overall.
Despite the seemingly solid performance, Holdmeyer acknowledged room for improvement, but was happy to be competing again.
“My performance was probably a little bit below average, a little bit worse than what I had wanted going into this race.” Holdmeyer said. “I was just getting my feet wet running outdoors. It was not what I wanted, but I was not too disappointed” he finished.
On the women’s side, freshman Margo Richardson continued her stellar season for the Billikens, qualifying for the USA Junior Track and Field Championships in the 5K run with a time of 17:24.03.
She had previously qualified for the Championships in the 3K race as well. Teammate and fellow 5K runner Hilary Orf, a junior, took fourth overall in the event, setting a new SLU record in the process by posting a time of 17:14.95.
Hannah Kuenzel and Jesse Collins, both freshmen, were outstanding for the Billikens in the field events. Kuenzel set school records in both the shot put and the discus, posting distances of 38-11.50 and 121-7, respectively.
Collins set school records in the javelin, throwing a distance of 91-9. She also set the school record in the heptathlon, a grueling test of endurance which includes seven events:100-meterhurdles, high jump, shot put, 200-meter race, long jump, javelin throw, and 800-meter race.
For being the first event of the outdoor season, the Billikens put forth a strong showing.
“It was not a horrible meet,” said Holdmeyer. “It was just us getting our feet wet again. We had a couple of people battling injuries, that kind of showed, but overall it was a strong opener.
