The men and women’s track teams had a little fun by hosting the Jace Lacoste Invitational this past weekend. A lot of the athletes ran in events different from what they normally compete in, giving them a chance to take some pressure off their normal routines. The men came out on top in the meet while the women finished second.
“It is a long season, so you have to have one week where they can relax a little bit and that is what we did,” head coach Al Schmidt said. “We let some kids compete at home when they normally don’t get to go on the big trips so that is a good thing.”
The big story on the men’s side was the performance turned in by sophomore Glenn McFadden. McFadden not only won the race, but his 10.47 second time in the 100-meter race was good enough to earn him a regional qualifying position.
“I was just working on my form and doing some of the things the coaches had been telling me to. I wanted to work on perfecting my form for upcoming meets,” McFadden said.
McFadden is the team’s third regional qualifier in the 100-meter event, and is happy to get a spot in that race.
“Getting the regional is great. It really helps our team out toward our goals. I expected to qualify eventually but not so early in the season,” he said.
The men’s 4×100-meter relay team is ranked second in the country and feels they are legitimate shot at winning a championship.
Last year a bad exchange during a handoff cost them a shot at the national title. Schmidt and the team want to avoid a similar outcome this year.
“Even last week we did not have perfect handoffs, and we have to get to where we can be perfect,” Schmidt said.
“It is hard to do in practice; you have to do it in the big meets,” he continued. That is why we are going to TCU and the Penn Relays. I think the key is being able to do it in the big meets.”
McFadden, who is also on the 4×100-meter squad, knows they have to work hard to avoid another disappointment. “Right now we are trying to determine what leg of the relay people need to be on to get the best team out there,” McFadden said. “We are trying to perfect our handoffs so what happened last year with dropping the baton won’t happen this year. “Once we get the handoffs perfected and the order straight we should be in good shape to come away with a title at Penn or TCU,” he continued.
On the women’s side of things a lot of athletes competed in different events, which probably cost the team first place.
However, sophomore Tiffany McWilliams continued her stellar season by breaking the old meet record in the 5000-meter run by nearly 30 seconds. Fellow sophomore Meggan Hodge won the 1500-meter and Lauren Johnson won the 100-meter hurdles.