Indoor track busts more records at CWRU

The women's indoor track team celebrated the opening of Case Western Reserve University's new indoor track with two school records.

Juniors Nicole James and Amie Ely, first-year Elizabeth Chandler, and sophomore Emily Lane combined for a record 1:51.8 in the 800 meter relay on Friday. James bettered her own record from earlier in the season in the 300 meter with a time of 43.2 seconds.

The men's relay teams excelled at the Case meet. The 800-meter relay, run by team captain senior Steve Jackson, junior Dan Feldman, sophomore Sean Wesolowski, and first-year Zach Rudison, combined for a second-place finish timed at 1:35. Senior James Richter, junior Gil Saenz, and sophomores James Priest and Chris Nytch took third-place in the 1600-meter relay in 3:41.06.

Individual runners also performed well. In the 400-meter, Saenz finished in third place with a time of 54.3 seconds, and Priest achieved a personal best of 55.4.

In the 55-meter, Coach Thomas Smith, who entered the race as an independent, won the race in 6.5 seconds. Before he came to Oberlin, Smith ran track for Brown University. This bested Jackson, who sprinted to fourth place in 6.7 seconds.

"I enjoyed watching Coach Smith run out there," first-year David Andalman said. "His performance was top-notch."

Richter garnered fourth place in the 800-meter with a time of 2:03.5. Feldman ran a 37.4 in the 300-meters, earning second place and a personal best.

Senior Jay Johnson earned the lone field place, when he took third in the Triple Jump, with a distance of 39'9".

The team's impressive showing left Jackson very optimistic about the rest of the season.

"This is our year," Jackson said. "The fact that I'm a senior just gives me that much more motivation to go out and do well in conferences."

As a team, theYeowomen also performed strongly at Case. Senior Trista Thornberry won the 1500-meter in 4.57.1, and first-year Beth Spalding took fourth in the event, running it in 5:13.8.

Ely landed in fourth place in the 55-meter hurdles with a personal best 9.1 seconds. Sophomore Christiana Nwofor earned a personal best 7.93 seconds in the 55-meter sprint.

"The team is vastly improved over years passed," said shot putter, sophomore Mary Towey. "People are continuing to have personal best performances every time they run."

In addition to James's record run in the 300-meter, two Yeowomen earned personal bests in the event. Ely finished third in 45.1 seconds, and Chandler took fourth place in 45.2 seconds.

First-year Medora Lytle took fourth place in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 11:42.5, and first-year Jenni Huelsman ran a personal best time of 11:48.5.

Junior Steffany Haaz, first-year Cheryl Courtice, Thornberry and Spalding combined for fourth place in the 1,600-meter relay with a time of 4:40.6.

In the field events, Chandler won the long jump with a distance of 16'1/2". Sophomore Kate O'Brien took second in the high jump with a height of 4'8", and Ely reeled in fourth place with a personal-best jump of 4'8".

James can scarcely believe how successful she and her teammates have been.

"I am elated and surprised by this team's success," James said. "This would be impossible without fine coaching and great team efforts."

Head Coach Thomas Mulligan feels optimistic about the remainder of the season. "If we continue to stay healthy and keep working," Mulligan said. "We should do well in conferences."