The Webster University men's and women's track and field teams took to the outdoors for the first time in 2010, participating in the Rose-Hulman Early Bird in Terre Haute, IN, on March 20.  Fourteen athletes competed in nine different events.  Freshmen #A.J. Wallace# (Warrenton HS, MO) was the high finisher in an event for the Gorloks, placing second in the men's triple-jump at 11.82 meters.

Also on the men's side, Wallace and Aaron Oberneufemann (FR, Mt. Olive HS, IL) finished fourth and sixth in the long-jump.  Josue Whitcomb (SR, Blue Valley West HS, KS) and Derrell Lee (FR, Radford HS, MI), running for the first time this spring, finished ninth and tenth, respectively.  Freshmen Robert Hohensee (Buffalo HS, MO) and Dan Henkey (Affton HS, STL) finished 16th and 17th in the 1500m run.

Robert Aaron (JR, Christian Brothers HS, STL), Oberfneufemann, Wallace, and Hohensee finished fifth in the 4 X 400 relay.  Aaron was active on the day, also finishing 16th in the shot put, and 13th in the discus.

Lesley Rankin (FR, Gateway Institute, STL) finished fifth in the women's shot put.  Amanda Arcangel (SO, Immaculate Heart HS, CA) was 10th in the discus with Rankin finishing 13th.  Marissa Gibbs (JR, Springfield HS, IL) finished 10th in the long jump with Arcangel in 11th, and Danielle Sanders (JR, Hazelwood Central HS, STL) in 12th place.  In the 1500m run, Jessica Parkman (FR, Peru HS, IN) finished in sixth.  Gibbs and Sanders placed 14th and 16th in the 200m run.

Head coach, Dusty Lopez noted, "A year ago, this was Webster's first-ever track meet, so it's easy to 
see how much progress we've made.  Not only did we bring more athletes and compete at a higher level, the overall team attitude is completely different.  The commitment and expectations are markedly better, and it shows.

Across every event, our performance has improved.  Our 2010 indoor times and marks were better than we were doing during last year's outdoor season, and we beat almost all of our indoor bests today.  It's great to see the improvement, and it inspires us to keep working to get better."

Times and results are available on the men's and women's track and field pages at websterathletics. com.  Both teams head to the Rhodes College Open (TN) on March 27 and see action in the St. Louis region for the first time this season on April 3-4 at the Washington University Invitational.