The Webster University men's and women's track and field teams participated in an indoor meet for the first time in the program's history, competing in the Illinois College Snowbird Open in Jacksonville, IL, on January 23.  Eight athletes competed in nine different events with encouraging results for the young program.

On the women's side, Jessica Parkman (FR, Peru HS, IN) completed 800 meters (M) in 2:40.78 to finish 11th in a field of 31.  Parkman later ran the one-mile race in 6:03.46 to finish eighth out of 18, picking up a team point.  Lauren McEwen (FR, Liberty HS, MO) ran the 55M dash in 8.84 seconds and finished the 200M in 32.81 seconds.  Marissa Gibbs (JR, Springfield HS, IL) ran the 400M in 1:10.14 and the 800M in 3:13.16.

The men's distance medley team picked up three points by finishing seventh.  David Koppelmann (FR, Owensville HS, MO), Aaron Oberneufmann (FR, Mt. Olive HS, IL), Blake Harris (FR, O'Fallon HS, IL), and Robert Hohensee (FR, Buffalo HS, MO) ran the 2.5 miles in 11:50.27.  Oberneufmann picked up another point with his high jump of 1.82M and hit 5.61M in the long jump.

Robert Aaron (JR, Christian Brothers HS, STL) hit 5.05M in the long jump and ran the 200M dash in 26.17 seconds, and the 400M in 59.76 seconds.  Hohensee ran 2:15.84 in the 800 M and Koppelman ran the 3000M in 10:33.07.

Head Coach Dusty Lopez observed, “We had a solid first meet. Not one single member of our team had ever run indoor track before, so it was nice to get everyone some racing experience and see their competitive spirit."  Lopez added, "Of course, since it was our first meet, we 'set' a lot of school records, with some very strong collegiate debuts for most of our athletes.  We look forward to rewriting the Webster record books again and again this year.” 

The teams next compete on February 6, back in Jacksonville, IL, for the Illinois Invitational, also an indoor event.