By Bryson Hartzler

The Bluffton University track and field program traveled south to Lexington, Va., to partake in the Washington and Lee Track and Field Carnival. The two-day meet attracted premier programs from all across the east coast with large fields of athletes from Division I to Division III. The Beavers left their imprint on the meet with several top finishers, school records, HCAC conference and All-Ohio qualifiers as well.

The temperature dropped into the 30’s on Friday evening, but the Beavers were just getting warmed up. Colin McCloskey (Sylvania/Northview) and Alison Janzen (Whitewater, Kan./Remington) set new standards for the school in the 5K and 10K distances.

McCloskey’s performance of 15:38.01 in the 5k broke the record that stood since 1994 by 19 seconds. His time also qualified him for the Heartland Conference and All-Ohio meets. McCloskey finished 21st in a field of 77 athletes in his first-ever track and field 5K performance.

After 25 grueling laps, senior Alison Janzen crossed the line in 39:37:87, taking 21 seconds off of the previous school record that was set in 2005. Janzen finished in 6th place on her way to qualifying for the conference meet.

Zachary Smith (West Unity/Hilltop) also qualified for the All-Ohio meet in the 5K, running a personal-best time of 16:02.09. Maddie Moore (Linn Grove, Ind./South Adams) will join her teammates at the All-Ohio meet in the 3k steeple chase. In Moore’s debut performance, she ran 13:05.65 to qualify.

The throwing combination of Jeff Parker (Bristol, Ind./Northridge) and Chase Walters (Convoy/Crestview) qualified for the meet as well. Parker qualified in the javelin with a throw of 173-9, just off his own school record. He finished 6th in the field to also qualify him for the conference meet.

Chase Walters throw of 137-6 in the hammer was also an All-Ohio qualifier. Walters had a PR performance in the disc as well. Other conference qualifiers came from Nichole Peterman (Killbuck/West Holmes) in the 800m with a time of 2:29.63.

Several personal-best performances came from across all events. The freshman duo of Josh Cunningham (Poquoson, Va.) and Zach Bradley (Sheffield/Brookside) took the challenge of the 10k head on with two personal bests. Fellow freshmen Adrian Ramirez (Archbold) and Demi Snider (Kenton) had personal bests in the 5k.

Tara Murphy (Westerville/Thomas Worthington) ran a personal-best race in the 1500m while Hannah Krull (Lewisburg/Tri-County North) had a double PR on the day in the 200m and 400m. Personal bests in the 400 IH came from Joel Schmidt (Berne, Ind./South Adams) and Mitch McKenzie (Plymouth).

Several personal bests came from the throwers as well as Justin Yingst (Houston) had a double PR in hammer and javelin; Edgar Gonzalez (Melvindale, Mich.) had a PR in the disc; Marcea West-Estell (Toledo/Notre Dame Academy) in the javelin; and Alex Parker (Alger/Upper Scioto Valley) in the shot put.

Head Coach Karen Brandt was very pleased with her young team. “A lot of hard fundraising work went into making this weekend possible, I think it’s fair to say the team got its money's worth. With two new school records, five all-Ohio qualifiers and four conference qualifiers plus a host of personal bests, its fair to say I am very proud of this team. They work hard in practice, they display outstanding teamwork and camaraderie and when it comes time to compete, they focus and get the job done."

The Beavers will have a short week of practice before they return to action on Good Friday, March 29, at Defiance.