Blue Hens Drop a Flurry of Big Performances in Their Biggest Meet of the Season

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Delaware’s club track & field team faced its toughest competition of the season at the TCNJ Invitational in the week following their spring break. Whether it was this increased competition, the fact that some of these athletes haven’t competed in over a month, or some other external factor, the club churned out a bunch of season best performances. It was Delaware’s first meet at The College of New Jersey since 2019, and they made it count.

Chris Calandra and Jack Pelczar started off a big day for the Blue Hens on the track with a pair of personal bests in the 5k. Calandra lowered his best to 17:06.29, and thanks to the pacing of his high school teammate, Aravind Arunachalam, Pelczar smashed his old personal best time by 60 seconds to get it to 17:17.44. In the men’s 1500-meter race, four Blue Hen’s reached the 4:20 mark to place in the top-30. Sasha Latina (4:20.73) and Arunachalam (4:20.94) finished together at 28th and 29th, while freshman Brady Sheaffer (4:19.61) broke 4:20 for the first time to land in 26th place. Senior Alex Horgan not only led Delaware in the 1500, but led the entire field in 3:58.37 for his 5th straight individual victory. Freshman CJ Williams led the Blue Hens in the women’s 1500-meter race in 24th place, where her first ever 1500 was good for 5:40.42.

On the sprinting side of things, the women’s 4x100m squad of Sam Radinsky, Gianna Dowling, Rilee McMahan, and Eli Manning ran a top tier relay time in the club’s history. Their 55.99-second race was the third fastest 4x100m relay in club history, it was also good for 9th overall at the meet. Radinsky and McMahan were also two of four Blue Hens to finish in the top 25 in the 100-meter dash. Mcmahon (14.49) managed a 23rd place finish, while Radinsky (14.78) sneaked in at 25th. Freshmen DJ Seals and Kurt Krummenacker were the two men who also fit the top-25 description. Seals (11.72) edged out Krummenacker (11.74) at the line to get the distinction of coming in 22nd compared to 23rd. Seals also knocked off Ryan McDonough’s time from 2013 to tie Brandon Lichtenstein in 9th place on the all-time performance list.

The long-sprints featured a few notable performances from Delaware. CJ Williams (1:08.10) and Eli Manning (1:08.26) finished within a quarter of a second of each other in the 400-meter dash, finishing in 18th and 22nd respectively. Williams’ first collegiate outdoor 400 was good enough to land her at 7th on the all-time outdoor performance list. The 800-meter race featured a top-10 finish from sophomore Micheal Anderson, his 2:00.33 landed him at 8th overall for the meet. Sasha Latina broke the 2:10 barrier once again, his 2:09.56 was good enough to win his heat of the 800 by over two seconds. In the third addition of Delaware’s three-team battles in the men’s 4x400m relay, the win went to the squad of Anderson, Evan Pawlik, Dan Giron, and Jack Pelczar, who had the fastest time of the series, finishing in 3:48.70.

The field may have started off first, but we’re finishing off with them for last. Gianna Dowling found her way onto the performance list for a second and third time during the meet for the high jump and long jump. Her 4.22-meter long jump was good for 7th all-time and 22nd in the meet, and her 1.37-meter high jump got her to 4th all-time for Delaware and 9th place in the meet. Maggie Morris also landed herself on the all-time performance list, but did so in high fashion. Her 9.08-meter throw of the shot put was not only a collegiate best, but also the furthest throw in Delaware’s club track and field history.

Delaware now has to wait two weeks for a return to Salisbury University for the Eastern Shore Challenge on April 22nd.

Full meet results can be found here.

Arunachalam leading Pelczar to a new PR in the 5k

Latina winning his 800-meter race

Horgan celebrating his 1500-meter win

The Pawlik twins facing off in the 400 (Evan left, Josh right)

Delaware Club Track & Field Takes a Trip to Muhlenberg During Spring Break

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It was spring break for the University of Delaware, and spring break is all about trips, so their club Track & Field team made the trip to Muhlenberg College for the Muhlenberg Invitational. The Blue Hens’ first ever journey to Allentown, PA was with less runners than normal, but they still made their presence known. Despite the downpour before and after the meet, the athletes finally got lucky with great weather to start the month of April.

The women’s team traveled light, with only three athletes in five different events. Gianna Dowling started off Delaware’s meet in the 100-meter dash. Her 14.40 secured a top 30 finish for the freshman in her first outdoor competition. Aubra Sharp placed 32nd in both the 200-meter and the 1500-meter, running 32.33 and 6:11.89 respectively. Sophomore Leah Goodman managed a top-five finish in her heat in both the 1500-meter and the 800-meter races. Goodman opened her day with a 5:57.01 in the 1500, and followed it with 2:54.25 in the 800.

The men had a couple of notable finishes of their own. In the 400-meter dash, the Pawlik twins finished back-to-back, with Evan (56.48) placing 18th and Josh (57.34) placing 19th. Senior Sasha Latina snuck in the top 25 in the 800-meter race with a time of 2:08.90, which followed his 28th place finish in the 1500-meter race, running 4:32.04. Freshmen Brady Sheaffer and Jack Pelczar also churned out great performances in their first ever 1500-meter races. Sheaffer placed 16th at 4:23.40 and Pelczar finished in 4:37.78 to land at 34th. Alex Horgan kept his winning streak alive in the 5k, running 15:21.30 to get his fourth win of the spring. Sophomore Aravind Arunachalam also had himself a day, placing 16th in the 5k with a new personal best time of 16:50.81, breaking the 17-minute mark for the first time in college. Delaware’s top 4×400 squad of Alex Horgan, Evan Pawlik, Sasha Latina, and Josh Pawlik (3:44.39) put up a well-run relay to conclude the day for the Blue Hens, edging out two Scranton teams to place 13th overall.

As Delaware enters their final push of the season, they set their sights to next Saturday, April 8th, for the TCNJ Invitational. 

Full meet results can be found here.

Sheaffer finishing his first ever 1500

 

Goodman battling in the 800

 

Sasha Latina and Logan Mull halfway through their 800-meter race

Both Men and Women Place 4th at the Lloyd Sigler Spring Meet in Windy Conditions

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For their second meet of the spring, and the second meet in two weeks, the Delaware Club Track & Field team traveled the length of their state to Salisbury University for the Lloyd Sigler Spring Meet. The last time they competed in Salisbury, Maryland was right before the COVID pandemic in the 2020 spring season. The weather was once again not in the favor of the runners, with wind gusts reaching over 40 miles per hour at points during the day. Despite this, the Blue Hens pushed through and competed to the best of their abilities.

The meet kicked off with the field events, where three different Blue Hens scored points and etched themselves into the record books. Freshman Maggie Huizinga secured a second place finish in the high jump, leaping 1.45 meters, which was good for a new collegiate best and the second spot on the outdoor performance list. Freshman Lianna Greenstein continued her dominance from the winter, placing in both the long jump and the triple jump. In the long jump, Greenstein placed 6th overall, but her 4.49m jump landed her at second on the performance list. Greenstein one-upped herself in the triple jump later in the day, placing 4th in the meet and jumping 10.05 meters for the furthest outdoor triple jump in club history. Sophomore John Shaw also found his way into a scoring position in the triple jump. His 10.76 meter jump tied him with Devin DeTurk for 8th all-time on the performance list and placed him 5th in the meet.

Women’s steeplechase started the running events, and Delaware did not disappoint. The trio of Jenna Mlecko (14:04.15), Kaitlyn Burke (14:04.76), and Huizinga (15:43.89) swept the field, while Burke and Huizinga found themselves at 6th and 10th on the all-time list. Alex Horgan continued the winning streak for the Delaware distance team, as well as his own personal streak, placing first in the 1500-meter run at 4:06.33. Sophomore Michael Anderson was also able to score in the 1500, his 4:22.47 time placed him 6th overall. Although not beating the entire field like her teammates, sophomore Lauren Pollock also reigned victorious, winning her heat with a time of 5:56.33, and placing 12th overall.

Delaware had a few scoring finishes in the hurdles races. Ryan Wallace (16.30) opened his season with a fifth place finish in the 110-meter hurdle race. Gracy Back had a fantastic start to her first spring season. Her 16.42-second 100-meter hurdle race placed her second overall, and was also the fastest time in the club’s history. Jenny O’Leary (18.77) and Grace Wertheimer (19.93) also secured top ten finishes in both the meet and the all-time performance list for the club. Wertheimer also ran the second fastest 400-meter hurdle race in the club’s history, running 1:25.51 and placing 5th overall. Wallace (1:07.28) also placed in the 400-meter hurdles, this time landing him in 6th.

A pair of Blue Hens managed top finishes in the 400-meter dash. Eli Manning (1:09.19) placed 7th in the women’s race, while Ryan Lazev (54.85) came in 4th for the men.

The freshman short sprinters for Delaware came to play in their races. Gracy Back followed up her hurdle race with another scoring performance in the 100-meter dash, placing 7th. Her 13.66 was also the 4th fastest 100m in club history. Rilee McMahan (13.94) also landed on the all-time leaderboard at 7th, and placed 11th in the entire meet. McMahan (30.43) followed that race up with a 9th place finish in the 200-meter, missing the all-time leaderboard by a hundredth of a second. Kurt Krummenacker did however land on the all-time leaderboard for the 200. His time of 23.95 allowed him to sneak into the 10th spot, as well as 12th overall for the meet.

The final two distance events of the day featured a handful of top finishes for Delaware. In the 800-meter, Mlecko placed 9th, in a time of 2:52.10. Michael Anderson was able to score in the men’s 800 as well, he ran 2:05.56 and placed 4th. In the 5,000-meter run, the duo of senior Sasha Latina and sophomore Aravind Arunachalam placed back-to-back in 11th and 12th respectively. Latina was able to break the 17-minute mark to start the season to finish in 16:54.94, and while Arunachalam fell just short of this mark at 17:03.47, he was able to dominate and win his heat by over 30 seconds.

Overall, both the men and women’s teams placed 4th in the entire meet, with the women grabbing 65 points and the men 48.

The Blue Hens are able to grab a break for a few weeks, with their next meet being on April 1st at Muhlenberg College for the Muhlenberg Invitational.

Full meet results can be found here.

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