The men and women’s track and field team traveled to the University of Indiana to compete in the indoor Gladstein Invitational and the Indiana Relays the past two weekends.
During the Invitational, Brittney Cloudy, with a jump of 12.12 meters, was good enough to win the women’s triple jump, and Naya Owusu’s jump of 11.27 meters placed her in third out of 14 competitors.
Owusu also broke the top 10 in the high jump, tying for sixth place with a 1.65 meter jump.
“Indiana was the best meet I’ve had since competing at SLU. It is rare for me to do well in both events. I nearly set a personal record in both events,” Owusu said.
Sophomore Lauren Fyalka placed third in the 5,000 meter run at 17:49.46, with junior Elise Medley right behind her in fifth at 17:55.08, and freshman Natalie Myers in 11th at 18:17.86.
On the men’s side, freshmen Michael Scolarici and Tim Zellmer finished second and third in the 5,000-meter run and were the main standouts for SLU.
Overall, the team improved from their last meets due to stronger preparation before and during the meets.
Owusu said she prepared by “eating properly and sleeping well the week leading up to the meet.” She also made sure she “knew when she was competing so she knew when to properly hydrate and nourish for her events.”
While at the Indiana Relays, Cloudy dominated again by breaking the school’s long jump record with her 19-1.25 leap, good enough for fifth in the competition.
She also finished sixth in the 200-meter dash and fourth in the triple jump.
The men’s 4×800-meter relay, consisting of Kevin Fallon, Will Herrington, Henry Harndt and Matt Bucher, also set a school record with their time of 8:03.14, placing them in fourth overall.
Many Billikens also broke personal records at the relays, including Kita Alvares and Allison Walter, who finished 14th and 18th respectively in the 600-meter run.
Mallory Duggar and Ashley Roche set personal bests in the 400-meter run with strong times of 59.31 and 59.66.
Other standouts at the Relays were Owusu, who placed fifth in the high jump, Jessica Hoefert in the 3,000-meter run and Margo Richardson, who placed sixth in the one-mile run.
The Billikens compete next at the University of Notre Dame for the Meyo Invitational. That will be the final meet of the year before the Atlantic 10 Championships, which will be held Feb. 17-18 in Rhode Island.
