In what was possibly the most convoluted year of UDXC/TF history, the Blue Hens fought through unscheduled busses, apparel debacles, and a pandemic that brought an untimely end to the track season. Despite many bumps and curves in the road, there is no denying that when our runners were able to do their thing, they did so with passion, talent, and grace. The performances we saw this year are representative of a team that has managed to grow and flourish under any and all circumstances. Here’s to the 2019-2020 UDXC/TF season.

During cross country, the women placed in the top ten teams a total of three times, while the men placed in the top ten twice! In addition, we saw two new top ten performance records for our home cross country course set by Bailey Davin and former UDXC runner and captain Michael Durkin.

Despite a short track season, the performance lists were dramatically altered as a total of twelve new records were added to the infamous spreadsheets. In our first and only outdoor track meet, the Lloyd Siegler Invitational, runner’s showed immense depth and talent, taking home four individual first place finishes and five individual second place finishes!

Notable performances of the season include Michael Durkin’s first place win at the Delaware Invitational over a slew of D1 teams, a pack of five Hens taking 1st-5th in the women’s 5k at the Lloyd Siegler invitational, and the women’s 4×100 team running a 55.52 for a new team record at Lloyd Siegler.

Here’s hoping we get both seasons next year and continue to thrive as we have been so fortunate to do in the past!

Clear blue skies and vibrant sunshine belied the cold and windy weather that awaited the Blue Hens at the Lloyd Sigler Spring Meet in Salisbury, MD. Despite the ferocious gusts of wind and frigid temperatures, the team had an impressive showing for this season’s first outdoor meet. Full results can be found here.

Alexa Saldida dominated in the field events by claiming her rightful position as number one on the all-time list in discus (26.22m) and shot put (8.50m) and number two in javelin (26.46m). 

Although the intense wind made the individual sprint events ineligible for our all-time lists, (there was a recorded wind factor of 4.9 during these events, anything about 2.0 is considered “illegal”) Brittany Georges and Hannah Eleutheriou obliterated the 200-meter dash, going 1-2 in times of 28.80 and 29.14, respectfully. 

Eleutheriou also placed first in the 100 with a time of 13.53 and led her 4×100 team (Brittany Georges, Jenna Jackson, Kat Sigafoos, Hannah Eleutheriou) to a shiny number 1 spot on the all-time list in 55.52. Sigafoos went on to come in 2nd for the 400, ultimately earning her the #5 spot on our all-time performance list with a time of 1:07.34. 

In the men’s 1500 meter run, newcomer Kyle Owino blasted onto the scene in a second-place finish of 4:44.51, while Gerald Brady (5:01.96) and Jacob Henry (5:04.7) crossed not far behind for 6th and 7th place. Sophomore Lorenzo Andaya made his mark in the men’s 800 by winning his heat and coming in fourth overall with a speedy time of 2:11.27. 

The distance women put significant manpower into the 5k, as the entire race consisted of 7 finishers girls—and 5 of them were Blue Hens. Talia Brookstein-Burke came in first with a time of 20:09.19, ultimately improving her #10 spot on the all-time list. The rest of the team followed in rapid succession, with Emily Magoon (20:11.59) taking 2nd, Abigail Kaye (20:12.07) taking 3rd, Elise LaFramboise (20:36.48) taking 4th, and Madeline Dorley (21:03.03) claiming 5th! 

The men’s 5k continued the Blue Hen distance power, with Michael Murphy coming in 2nd with a time of 17:09.79 and John Papadopoulos taking 4th in 18:22.72.

Up next for the Hens is the Haddonfield Adrenaline 5k in Haddonfield, NJ. This competitive road race draws runners from across the East Coast and promises to bring good competition and St. Patty’s Day cheer. 

 

 

The Blue Hens had a promising close to the ever so quick indoor track season today at the Happy Valley Invitational in State College, PA! With two new top ten times and several PRs, it’s clear that the team is ready to set some speedy outdoor bests in the coming weeks. Full results can be found here.

For women’s sprints, Brittany Georges dominated the field, taking second in both the 60m and 200-meter dash, with times of 8.61 and 27.92, respectively. Georges also took to the long jump pit and set a new club record of 4.17 meters, good for 3rd place in the entire meet.

For men’s field events, Brandon Lichtenstein improved his position on the all-time list in the long jump to #7(tied) with a jump of 5.86, gaining him 5th place at the meet!

In women’s distance, captain Elise LaFramboise improved her #7 spot on the all-time 3k performance list by .03 seconds while junior Emily Magoon just missed her 3k PR and #5 performance of 11:42.8 by 3.17 seconds- not bad considering she had just run the 1600 for the DMR!

Men’s distance did particularly well at the meet today, with sophomore Patrick LaPorte set himself a shiny new indoor PR in the 800 with a time of 1:59.05, good for 3rd place out of 33 runners at the meet and 7th on the all-time performance list.

Senior Brendan Jones also represented the distance crew as he dominated in the 3k, setting a PR of 24 seconds with a time of 9:11.05, earning him 4th in a field of 26 and #9 on the all-time performance list.

The next race for the Hens will be at the Lloyd Sigler Spring Meet on March 7th in Salisbury, MD.

 

With winter session coming to a close, three of UDXC’s athletes took to the track on Saturday, February 1 to dust off the ‘ol track spikes. Full results can be found here.

Junior Matthew Ward placed 8th in the 400 meter dash with a time of 54.27. Senior Emma Lesnevich ran a speedy 200 with a time of 32.67, good for third in her heat and 20th overall.

Senior Brendan Jones doubled up on distance events, running both the mile and the 3k for quite the double whammy! In the mile, Jones placed 5th overall with a time of 4:33.54. Just a few hours later, Jones came back and hopped into the 3k where he nabbed 2nd placed with an astounding time of 9:34.92.

Up next, the Blue Hens will be competing February 15th at the Happy Valley Invitational in PA!

The smell of Biofreeze and gunpowder wafted through the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex  Friday, December 6th as the Collegiate Indoor track season began. Five new additions to the all-time performance list stood out amongst a huge field of incredible races. Results can be found here

The Fastrack Metro Season Opener  is a huge meet for UD as the meet draws incredible competition from schools across the East Coast. This year, the Blue Hens had some incredible performances, showing the depth of the team and huge potential for a great showing in the outdoor season.

For the women, freshman Cassidy McCormick dominated the charts, claiming #2 on the all-time performance list for the indoor 400 with a time of 1:06.31. Shortly thereafter, McCormick came back to place 14th in a field of 33 runners in the 800 with a time of 2:33.37. This puts her #4 on the all time performance list, and is the fastest 800 run on an indoor track by one of our athletes in five years! 

Sophomore Kate Contini shined in the 200, winning her heat and running a speedy 29.36 for a #4 all-time performance. Senior Matthew Ward brought some major fire to the track with a 51.6 in the 400, putting him #7 on the all-time performance list! 

Both the men’s and women’s miles were absolutely loaded with UDXC runners. Sophomore Pat LaPorte placed 15th in a field of 48 men with a time of 4:47.1, followed shortly by Paul Filipow in 25th place with a time of 4:52.94. 

Elise LaFramboise (5:54.17) and Emily Magoon(5:55.78) utilized the pack running techniques they perfected from cross country, coming in just 1.61 seconds apart for 20th and 21st place, respectively. 

Magoon doubled up in the 3k, dizzying spectators with 15 laps on the tiny track while dropping an incredible 11:54.15, just 12 seconds off her #4 all-time performance of 11:42.8! 

A huge shoutout to former president and UD alum Sean Goodwin (19’) who ran a 10:04.27 in the 3k! 

Next for the Blue Hens is the Collegeville Classic at Collegeville, PA on January 25th.