The track and field team competed in the WashU Invite in St. Louis, Mo. and the Eastern Illinois Big Blue Classic in Charleston, Ill. on March 31 and April 1.

In the WashU Invite, several individuals had stellar performances. On the men’s side, sophomore Matt Prest posted a personal record in the 10,000-meter run. His time of 30:54.70 earned him first place as well as the third best time in the A-10 this season. Freshman Aaron Dugan ran a time of 32:07.20. Sophomore Will Moore competed in the 1500-meter run, placing tenth with a time of 4:06.93. Overall, the men placed eighth of twelve teams.

On the women’s side, sophomore Anna Schmitz posted a top-ten mark in the A-10 this year with a time of 17:17.31 in the 5,000-meter run. Sophomore Natalie Davis posted a time of 17:30.31, junior Katie Anderson ran a 17:36.86 and junior Ellie Adams earned a time of 17:59.40.

In the Eastern Illinois Big Blue Classic, both teams placed eleventh in the team rankings out of 21 events scored. For the men, senior Griffin McCurren earned 12th place in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:55.20. Freshman Ethan Erusha placed eighth in the triple jump with a 13.93-meter mark, and Alexander Eldridge competed in the javelin throw, earning third place with a throw of 52.98 meters.

For the women, sophomore Avery Pacella tied for eighth place in the 400-meter dash with a time of 59.59.

Up next, SLU will return to their home turf to host the Billiken Invitational at SLU Medical Center Stadium on April 7.

SLU has three more invitationals on their spring schedule. On April 14-15, they will travel to Columbia, Mo. for the Tom Botts Invitational. Overlapping that event is the Bryan Clay Invitational on April 14 in Azusa, Calif. The Billiken squad will then travel to Terre Haute, Ind. to participate in the Pacesetter Invitational on April 21-22. Finally, the Billikens will travel to Des Moines, Iowa to compete in the Drake Relays on April 27-29.