Author: rlaz

Delaware Opens Their Spring Season in Frigid Conditions at Capital Relays

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The Delaware Club Track & Field team opened their spring season in the nation’s capital at American University for the Capital Relays. Despite it being the spring season, the winter weather was still hanging on. Throughout the day, runners had to deal with a mix of hail, wind, and near freezing temperatures. Despite this, the Blue Hens fought the elements as well as their opponents to start the season off with gritty performances.

Alex Horgan started the meet for the Blue Hens with a masterful running of the 5k. Horgan not only won the race handily, but he set a new meet record and improved to third all time in club history. On top of all that, he also made a 23-second improvement on his personal best, breaking the 15-minute mark for the first time by running the race in 14:54.78.

As soon as the 5ks finished, the hail started falling hard, just in time for the start of the 100-meter dash. That didn’t stop four Blue Hens from scoring on both sides. In the women’s 100, junior Sam Radinsky (14.53) and freshman Rilee McMahan (14.6) placed 3rd and 4th respectively. The men followed up a pair of 3rd and 4th place finishes of their own. Freshman Kurt Krummenacker (11.44) and junior Daniel Toms (12.07) both managed to score points in their first individual outdoor races of their collegiate careers.

Horgan continued his winning ways in the 1600-meter race. He took the lead half-way through the race and never looked back, securing the win by five seconds with a time of 4:33.73. No women scored for women in the 1600, but freshmen Kaitlyn Burke (6:06.04) and Hannah Heredia (6:06.50) took the top two spots in their heat, both managing top-15 overall finishes. More winning was done in the men’s 4×100-meter relay, where the squad of Krummenacker, Toms, Josiah Taylor, and Shane Isacson won the race in 49.89 seconds.

The 800-meter race had a handful of top-10 finishes and scoring spots. The duo of sophomore Leah Goodman (2:52.82) and Burke (2:53.64) both top-10, squeezing in 9th and 10th respectively. On the men’s side, three Blue Hens managed to score points. Junior Ryan Lazev (2:09.98), freshman Josh Pawlik (2:10.66), and senior Sasha Latina (2:11.16) finished back-to-back-to-back, finishing in 4th, 5th, and 6th respectively.

In the final and most anticipated event of the day, three evenly matched men’s 4×400 relay teams from Delaware battled it out for the crown. In a back and forth race, it all came down to the final leg, where Caden MacHenry went from third to first, catching his teammate at the line, giving him, Lazev, Brady Sheaffer, and Evan Pawlik the victory. Unfortunately, the heat-winning time of 3:56.25 was only good for 2nd place overall.

As a unit, the University of Delaware’s men’s team was the top squad. They finished with 81 total points, which was 34 more than second place. The women’s team scored 37 points, which landed them at 4th place.

The club only has to wait one week for their next meet. The Lloyd Sigler Spring Meet takes place on March 4th, hosted by Salisbury University.

Full men’s results can be found here, and women’s here.

Horgan celebrating his new personal best in the 5k

Toms and Krummenacker fighting the elements in the 100-meter

Caden MacHenry passing John Papadopoulus at the finish line of the 4×400 with the entire team cheering them on

The Blue Hens End Their Winter Season in Style at Penn State in the Happy Valley Invitational

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For their final meet of the indoor season, the Delaware Club Track & Field squad traveled to Penn State University for the Happy Valley Invitational. For some it was the beginning of their season, for others it was the next step of their training, but regardless, the Hens put everything they had in a heavily competitive meet. 

The distance squad kicked off the meet in style, with all four distance medley relay teams finding their way on the indoor performance list. For the women, the squad of Jenna Mlecko, Eli Manning, Leah Goodman, and Kaitlyn Burke took 6th place in the field, running 14:46.79, which gave them the fourth best time ever run indoors. The top Delaware men’s DMR team of John Papadopoulos, Ryan Lazev, Sasha Latina, and Caden MacHenry placed 8th in the field and 7th on the all-time performance list, squeaking under the 12 minute mark at 11:58.75.

After the longest event of the day concluded, the two shortest events of the day kicked off. In the 60m girls hurdles, freshmen Grace Wertheimer (11.6) and CJ Williams (11.76) set season bests in back-to-back finishes. In the 60m dash, freshman Rilee McMahan tied her personal best time of 8.62, which was good for 8th place, and junior Sam Radinsky finished in 11th place, setting a new best time of 8.93, knocking off her old time by one-one hundredth of a second. The speed continued on the track with the 4×200 meter relay, and both Delaware relays found themselves on the all-time performance lists. The women’s relay of McMahan, Wertheimer, Lianna Greenstein, and Gianna Dowling placed 5th with a time of 2:05.09. The men’s team of Kurt Krummenacker, Jude Mazzola, Max Moltchanov, and Shane Isacson followed them up with a 3rd place finish in a time of 1:42.07.

In a massive field in the men’s mile, Michael Toy (4:43.96), Aravind Arunachalam (4:46.87), and Sasha Latina (4:50.80) all broke the sub-five minute mark and secured a top 30 spot, with Arunachalam even going as far to win his heat in his first ever collegiate track race. In CJ Williams’ first ever collegiate 400m race, she landed at 4th place on the all-time indoor performance list and secured 8th place in the field with a time of 1:08.03. She immediately followed that up with a 2:39.36 800m run with another 8th place finish and her third entry on the day to the indoor performance list. On the men’s side of the 800, Michael Anderson led the Blue Hens with an 11th place finish. His race was followed by a very competitive second heat, where Josh Pawlik (2:08.74), Ryan Lazev (2:09.74), and Evan Pawlik (2:10.42) all set new season bests as well as grabbed top-25 finishes. 

In the final event that the Delaware sprinters competed in, the 200m featured two performance list eligible finishes. The duo of Rilee McMahon (30.91) and Sam Radinsky (31.26) once again finished within a second of each other, scoring back-to-back placements at 10th and 11th. McMahon entered her name in the 200m list, landing in the 8th place spot, right behind her friend and teammate in Radinsky. 

In a highly anticipated event, the 3,000 meter race featured two top-10 finishes by the distance captains. Jenna Mlecko led off, and her time of 11:59.15 was good for an 8th place finish. Alex Horgan followed her up with a meet record-setting 8:45.92. This of course gave him the win as well as the 5th best indoor time ever for the club. The meet was concluded with the men’s 4x400m relay. Delaware secured 6th place with a time of 3:43.13, run by the squad of Anderson, Latina, and the Pawlik twins. 

The field events featured five top-5 placements by four different women. Lianna Greenstein continued her dominance of the indoor jumping events. She improved her club-best triple jump to 10.08 meters, and also set a new indoor-best in the long jump, soaring 4.47 meters. She placed 2nd and 4th respectively. In the high jump, Maggie Huizinga matched her season best jump of 4′ 8″ to place second, and Gianna Dowling leaped 4′ 6″ to place 5th. Maggie Morris became the first thrower to compete for Delaware this season, and she did not disappoint. Her 8.96 meter throw of the shot put landed her in third place, and was also the furthest throw in club history.

With the indoor season complete. Delaware moves on to the outdoor season, which starts on February 25th at Capital Relays in Washington D.C.


Full meet results can be found here.

 

Anderson taking the lead in the 4×400

Papadopoulos setting the pace in the men’s DMR

Burke finishing off the final leg of the women’s DMR

Arunachalam extending his lead in the mile race

Winter Break Doesn’t Stop A Small Group of Blue Hens From Coming Out To Compete

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Despite it being their winter break, the Delaware club track team was still ready to compete at Susquehanna University at the River Hawk Invitational. Only a mere six athletes attended the meet, but that didn’t stop them from putting out their best efforts. 

Freshman Maggie Huizinga was the lone woman, sprinter, and jumper who attended this mid-January competition. She started off the day in high jump, boasting a 5th place finish on a 1.42m jump, which improved upon her season opener. She followed that up with a 1:21.66 400-meter dash, which was good for 11th place in the meet and 9th place on the all-time indoor performance list.

The men had a few more athletes across three different races. In the mile run, freshman Brenden Debrosse led the Blue Hens in his first collegiate track race, finishing in 20th place with a time of 5:16.81. He was followed by Matt Bieker (5:51.01) and Jacob Letnaunchyn (6:21.01), who came in 28th and 29th place respectively. Junior Ryan Lazev placed 13th in the 800-meter race, finishing in a time of 2:11.39, which improved upon his season opening time from a month ago. Letnaunchyn was the only Blue Hen on the men’s side to run multiple events, succeeding the mile in the 800-meter with a time of 2:47.55. Jack Pelczar wrapped up the day in the 3,000-meter. The freshman ran a new personal best time of 10:17.42, which landed him in 11th place.

Delaware will travel to Penn State University on February 11th for their final winter track & field meet of the season.

Full meet results can be found here.

Huizinga clearing the bar for a 5th place finish

Letnaunchyn and Bieker working together in the mile

Pelczar on his way to a new personal best in the 3k

A Multitude of Athletes Make Their Mark on the All-Time Indoor Performance List in the Winter Season Opener

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The Delaware club track team made their way to nearby Franklin & Marshall College for the Diplomat Open to start the 2022-23 winter track season. Despite the first meet of the season always being tough, many Blue Hens put in work to find their way to the all-time indoor performance list as well as other good performances.

The jumpers started the meet early with their events and a big chunk of the newly acquired performance list spots. Freshman Lianna Greenstein started her college career with a bang, first securing 13th place in the long jump with a jump of 4.37m, which gave her the second longest indoor jump of all time, and followed that with a 10.06m jump in triple jump, resulting in a third place overall finish and passing Jenay Valentine’s mark of 9.44m for the furthest indoor triple jump in club history. Maggie Huizinga also managed a top 10 finish with a 1.40m leap in the high jump, which landed her second all-time for the club.

The sprinters finally started their season, getting to compete for the first time this season. Freshman Gracy Back matched her fellow freshman teammate with two performance list inclusions of her own. Back started her collegiate career with a 5th place finish in the 60m hurdles at 9.85, which passed Kayleigh Miedreich for best all-time, and a 17th place finish in the 60m in 8.56 to get the third spot on the all-time list. Rilee McMahan followed close behind in the 60m in her first ever race to get 8.62 and fifth all-time for Delaware. On the men’s side, freshman Kurt Krummenacker (24.41) managed a 15th place finish in the 200, in front of his teammates Stanley Louius (25.43) and Shane Isacson (25.63).

The distance runners didn’t have their full squad due to the recently completed cross country season, but that didn’t affect their ability to bring their best efforts. Senior Sasha Latina kicked off the meet in the 5k, and finished 12th place in 17:12.89. Michael Anderson wasted no time in his 800m race, going out very hard to get himself to fourth place finish (2:00.74). Freshman Josh Pawlik put up two top 15 finishes in his college debut, getting an 11th place finish (2:09.05) in the 800 and a 13th place finish (56.72) in the 400. The men managed three top 15 finishes in the mile run, with Matthew Kwiatkowski (4:41.83) leading in 7th place, followed by Alejandro Lobo (4:49.19) in 10th and Dan Giron (4:58.02) in 14th.

The women also had themselves a day in the distance events. Freshman Kaitlyn Burke highlighted these performances with two top 10 finishes across her two events. Burke’s 10th place time of 2:42.41 ties her with Emily Hansell for 8th all time in the indoor 800m, and her 6:17.81 mile slotted her at 4th in the entire field. Burke was one of three Blue Hens to crack the top 10 in the mile, she was followed by sophomore Lauren Pollock (6:26.12) in 8th and junior Natalie Pinto (6:36.21) in 10th.

Delaware looks to continue their winter season in a month on January 14th for the River Hawk Invite at Susquehanna University.

Full meet results can be found here.

Horgan Earns All-American Honors as Delaware Wraps Up Their Season at NIRCA Nationals

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The Delaware Cross Country team finished up the season in Richmond, Virginia at the NIRCA Cross Country National Championships. Facing off against universities from across the country, the Delaware runners gave it all they had in gritty races all across the board. The fierce competition and slightly elongated course gave the squad a run to remember in the season finale.

Starting off the set of championship races were the women, who finished just inside the top 20 in 19th place as a team. It marks the fifth straight time the women finished in the top 20 at Nationals. The Blue Hens were led by freshmen Jade Barrett and Kaitlyn Burke. Barrett finished first for the Blue Hens in 82nd place with a time of 25:58, followed by Burke, who finished 110th at 26:38. Junior Jenna Mlecko followed, finishing in 27:03 in her final cross country race of her career, as the distance captain is graduating early this year. The duo of CJ Williams (27:33) and Natalie Pinto (27:40) continued to work off each other, finishing within two spots of each other to round out the top five. Freshman Hannah Heredia (28:06) took the sixth spot for Delaware and senior Madeleine Dorley (30:11) finished seventh in her last ever race for the school.

The men followed with a tough 29th place team finish. Alex Horgan repeated as an All-American, earning a second-team spot in 23rd place with a time of 26:40. Despite coming off of a foot injury, freshman Evan Diefenbeck finished second for the Blue Hens, coming in at 29:27 to finish in 164th place. Seniors Sasha Latina (29:56) and Chris Calandra (30:58) took the next two spots, ending their cross country careers for Delaware with third and fourth place finishes for the team. Freshman Michael Toy made his top seven debut by also finishing the race in 30:58, followed closely behind by Dan Giron (31:18). Only six members crossed the finish line as Matthew Kwiatkowski was unable to complete the race.

In the class races, six Blue Hens ran their final XC race wearing the blue and gold. Maddy Ciskowski ran one of her best races of the season in her final race of her career, leading Delaware with a time of 28:52. Seniors Kayla Johnson and Kelsie Hansell also finished out their time with Delaware, with Hansell showing immense perseverance by finishing her last ever race fighting through heavy sickness. Team President John Papadopoulos led the squad in the men’s upperclassman race, going out fast and finishing with a time of 32:38. Seniors Matt Bieker and John Salsini-Tobias also finished out their cross country careers with times of 37:35 and 43:28 respectively.

After a long delay and an even longer day, the underclassmen concluded the afternoon with their races. Three girls finished their races separated by less than 35 seconds at the top of the women’s underclassman race. Freshman Camila Montes (28:55) led the pack in 38th place, followed close behind by Lauren Pollock (29:24) and Emma Szydlow (29:28), who finished back-to-back. On the men’s side, the top three underclassman finishers for Delaware were all separated by a minute. Leading the charge was Evan Pawlik (31:17) and Caden MacHenry (31:25), and then Sean Bernardo at 32:16.

With the cross country season ending, Delaware shifts their focus to winter track. The Blue Hens are set to make their season debut on the track at Franklin & Marshall College on December 9th at the Diplomat Open. 

Full meet results can be found here.

The ten seniors who ran their last ever cross country race for Delaware
Josh Pawlik leading a pack of runners
Alex Horgan in a battle on his way to an All-American caliber race
Kayla Johnson turning the corner as she reaches the final mile
Matt Bieker in a pack of runners during his final XC race
Freshman Emma Szydlow finishing her final XC race of her first season