Capital Relays

Delaware Dominates at Spring Season Opener

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The Blue Hens kicked off their 2024 spring season at the Capital Relays hosted by American University on February 24th. With both the Women’s and Men’s teams securing first place, it was a remarkable start to the season, achieving a Delaware sweep.

The day began with the 5k race. The women’s team showcased their strength, and were all making their collegiate spring track debut. Junior Delaney Oeth climbed her way up to 13th place with an impressive time of 21:19. Freshman Kate Kershaw also stayed under the 22-minute mark finishing in 21:56. Junior Hannah Pash set a new 5k PR with her time of 22:22. The men’s 5k also did not disappoint. Sophomore Evan Diefenbeck and Sophomore Brady Sheaffer displayed impressive performances. Diefenbeck placed 7th in 15:42 which earns him the 10th spot on our outdoor performance list. Sheaffer placed 10th and broke the 16-minute mark for the first time in 15:46. Junior Sean Bernardo set a new collegiate PR with a respectable time of 17:38.

The distance events continued with the 1600m race. The women’s team was led by sophomore Katie Burke finishing in the top 15 in 5:53, breaking that 6-minute barrier for the first time. Freshman Carly Curnutt continues to show improvement with her time of 6:15. Junior Lauren Pollock nailed her seed time coming in at 6:20.  The men’s 1600m was led by senior distance captain Dan Giron finishing in 4:57. Freshman Nik Anna and senior Matt Scarpelli followed close behind both crossing the line in 5:03. Closing out the distance events was the 800m race. Freshman Ella Maletta set the pace for the Blue Hens and took third place overall. She stayed under the 2:30 minute mark clocking in at 2:29.1, placing her 4th on the outdoor performance list. Freshman Anna Callaghan and sophomore Katie Burke followed as they finished strong in 2:37 and 2:43 respectively.  In the men’s 800m races, sophomore Dave Kelly put on an impressive performance in his spring track debut taking 2nd place and finishing with a remarkable time of 1:58.9. This race places Kelly 6th on the outdoor performance list. Freshman Skylar Grey also had a breakout race drastically improving his time from the indoor season. He finished 6th overall in 2:04.3. Sophomore Josh Pawlik followed close behind clocking in at a respectable 2:04.7. 

The Blue Hens had some stand-out performances in the sprinting races. This began with the 100m race as Freshman Amanda Desenchak won the event with a time of 12.63. Sophomore Rilee McMahan placed 5th with a time of 13.25, while senior Sam Radinsky took 6th place clocking in at 13.64. Due to hand timing complications official times for the men’s 100m race are unclear. However, sophomores Dave Kelly, Kurt Krummenacker, and freshman James Winston placed top three for Delaware. In the womens 200m race freshman Amanda Deshenchak continued her successful day by taking first place, with a time of 27.58. This impressive time places her second on the outdoor performance list. Senior Sam Radisnky broke 30 with her time of 29.9, followed by sophomore Lianna Greenstein clocking in at 29.97. Senior Daniel Toms led the Delaware crew in the men’s 200m finishing in a respectable 23.88. Freshman James Jeffers and James Winston finished close behind in 24.17 and 24.54 respectively.  In the womens 400m, Graduate student Robin Collura came in third overall with a time of 1:06.6 which places her 5th on the outdoor performance list. Junior Eli Manning and Anna Callaghan finished just behind in 1:07.5 and 1:07.7 respectively. The men’s 400m was led by freshman Devan Wasserman placing 3rd, displaying improvement with a time of 52.45 and earning him the 9th spot on the performance list. Following was freshman James Jeffers finishing 8th place with a time of 53.91. Senior and President Ryan Lazev places 10th overall with a time of 54.3 inching closer to breaking the 54-second mark. 

Our sprint relays displayed highly competitive performances as the Delawares womens 4×100 team anchored by freshman Autumn Williams, came in second place with a time of 55.8 claiming the third spot on the performance list. The men’s 4×100 team A also performed to a high standard, with senior Shane Isacson anchoring and taking the win in 46.42, placing them 8th on the performance list.  

The day concluded with a thrilling anything but a baton 4×4 relay! Our men’s A team of Stohr, Pawlik, Grey, and Kelly, secured victory in 3:48, and the women’s A team of Collura, Manning, Wertheimer, and Callaghan took 3rd in 4:48. 

Overall, it was a successful start to the season for the Blue Hens, who now look to maintain their momentum at the Lloyd Sigler Invitational at Salisbury University on Saturday, March 2nd.

Full results can be found here. * Please note all results were hand-timed.

Kershaw finishing her 5k.
Giron leading fellow Blue Hens during the 1600m.
Isacson anchoring the 4x100m relay.

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

Davin, Horgan Land on All-Time List, Men’s Team Takes Fourth at Capital Relays

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The Delaware club track team began its 2022 outdoor campaign at American University’s Capital Relays on Saturday. Two Blue Hens etched their way into the outdoor all-time list in the 5,000-meter race.

Senior Bailey Davin surpassed Molly Doyle’s 2019 NIRCA Nationals time of 19:25.81 to become fourth all-time in the team record books. Davin finished with a time of 19:22 and secured five points for Delaware. Sophomore Jenna Mlecko secured another point for the Hens with her eighth place finish of 20:44. Madeleine Dorley placed 11th in the event with a time of 21:45.

In the women’s 800-meter Chloe Gerstenbacher took 11th place in 2:45.74. Aine Grubb followed shortly after for Delaware with a time of 2:53.99.

Davin and Mlecko combined for the women’s team’s six points on the day.

Alex Horgan followed suit finishing second in the 5k, clocking in with a time of 15:32. Horgan’s time puts him seventh on the all-time outdoor performance list, surpassing Brandon Quanci. Horgan along with fellow junior Sasha Latina grabbed a total of nine points for Delaware in the first race of the day. 

Horgan and Ryan Lazev both finished in the top ten spots of the 800-meter run to secure four points for Delaware. Horgan doubled back after the 5k in 2:08.47, while Lazev grabbed the final scoring position with a time of 2:11.39.

The Hens grabbed another 10 points in the 4×100-meter relay as clean handoffs propelled Delaware past James Madison. Delaware’s 4×400-meter relay placed sixth with a time of 3:56.10, grabbing three points.

Sprinters Josiah Taylor and John Shaw combined to score five points for Delaware on the individual side in the 100-meter dash. Taylor finished with a sub-12 time of 11.91 and Shaw close behind in 12.38. Shaw combined to score eight points for Delaware after placing third in the 200-meter dash in 25.44. Drew Huffer finished right behind Shaw in fourth place with a time of 26.10. 

Delaware scored a total of 29 points in the sprint events. The men finished fourth with 44 points.

The Blue Hens will get a break to recover and continue their training for the team’s next meet on Mar. 20. Delaware is set to compete at the Club Penn Relays in Philadelphia.