The Webster University men's and women's track teams participated in the last indoor meet of the season, the Illinois College Alumni Invitational on February 19 in Jacksonville, IL. The positive results left both teams looking forward to the upcoming outdoor season, as Webster will field its full complement of athletes for the first time.
On the men's side, the 4 X 400m relay team finished second, picking up eight points, in 3:42.04, and the distance medley team finished in second/eight points as well at 11:38.09. David Koppelmann (FR, Owensville HS, MO) and Robert Hohensee (FR, Buffalo HS, MO) finished fourth and fifth in the 1000m run. Robert Aaron (JR, Christian Brothers HS, STL) finished fifth in the 400m dash at 58:82, and fifth in the shot put, hitting 9.49m.
A.J. Wallace (FR, Warrenton HS, MO) finished third in the triple-jump, hitting 12.39m, while Wallace and Aaron Oberneufmann (FR, Mt. Olive HS, IL) finished fourth and sixth in the long jump. The men finished fourth in a seven team field.
The women had the Gorloks first event leader of the year as Lesley Rankin (FR, Gateway Institute of Technology, STL) led in the shot put with a throw of 8.54m, good for 10 points. Danielle Sanders (JR, Hazelwood Central HS, STL) finished third in the long jump at 4.10m. Marissa Gibbs (JR, Springfield HS, IL) finished fourth in the 400m dash at 1:10.27, and Gibbbs and Sanders finished sixth and eighth in the 800m dash. Overall the women finished sixth out of nine teams
Coach Dusty Lopez noted, "I was very pleased with how we competed overall. Despite not being at full strength, we were able to put together a good team effort and the highest team scores and team finishes we’ve ever had. It was especially nice to see our distance medley relay and 4x 400 relay squads battling down to the wire against more experienced IC teams. There was a lot of crowd support since it was their home track, and we gave them a good fight all the way in both races.
This was a great way for our first-ever indoor season to wrap up. We set some solid school records, competed well, and I know that our athletes are already excited about coming back next winter and raising the bar again. In the meantime, we are really motivated for the upcoming outdoor season and we’ll spend the next month preparing hard for that."
Both teams will be next in action on March 2 at the Rose-Hulman Early Bird Invitational in Terre Haute, IN. It will be the first outdoor meet of the 2010 season for the Gorloks.
