Though they were split across the country, Saint Louis University’s track and field teams broke three school records in three separate meets last weekend. Sophomore Neal Fitzpatrick, senior Annika Gomell, and senior Todd Johnson now top the all-time charts for the men’s 5,000-meter, women’s 10,000-meter and men’s shot put respectively.
Fitzpatrick earned his spot at the San Francisco State Distance Carnival on Friday, April 3. He turned in a time of 14:23.39 to take 20th in the 5,000-meter event, besting the previous school record by six seconds.
Also running in this event were sophomore Hiob Gebisso and senior Tim Zellmer, who finished 116th and 121st, respectively, with times of 15:19.97 and 15:23.29. In addition, senior Michael Scolarici took 26th in the 1,500-meter run, with a time of 3:54.03.
The second record to fall was later that night, at the Stanford Invitational. Gomell posted a time of 33:54.72 in the 10,000-meter run, good for a seventh-place finish. Her time was just three seconds under the previous school record. Senior Isabel Liebfried followed behind with a time of 34:47.60, finishing 30th.
Meanwhile, much closer to home, Johnson broke the final school record on Saturday at the EIU Big Blue Classic in Charleston, Illinois. With a toss of 14.49 meters, Johnson surpassed the previous record, which he had set two years prior. The throw put Johnson in 17th for the event.
Several other Billikens placed high enough to earn points at the EIU Big Blue Classic, including senior Jamee Holmes, who came in seventh in the women’s 1,500-meter run, and junior Stephanie Uhrich, who tied for 11th in the women’s high jump at 11.57 meters.
Sophomore Hannah Rohde came close to scoring in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes; Rohde placed 15th in the former, with a time of 12.44 seconds, and 11th in the latter, with a time of 25.07 seconds. In both events, the top eight finishers were awarded points.
On the men’s side, sophomore Kyle Clinkingbeard took 12th in the 800-meter, clocking in a 1:57.45.
In addition, the men’s and women’s 4×400 relay saw moderate success. The women’s team, consisting of Rohde, freshman Elise Moore, and sophomores Jackie Bynes and Emma Kidd, placed 10th out of 19 with a time of 4:01.89. The men, Clinkingbeard, senior Tommy Whittaker, and sophomores Nathan Hall and Griffin McCurren, turned in a time of 3:21.60, which was good for a seventh place finish out of 21 competitors.
After two weeks of split-team meets, the entire team will return home this weekend to host the SLU Invitational at the SLU Medical Center Stadium on April 10-11. The Billikens are working towards the A-10 Championship, which will take place May 2, in Fairfax, Virginia.
