Marquette track and field’s throwers and distance runners saw action for the first time indoors on Saturday as Wisconsin hosted the 2013 Badger Classic. After winter break, nine Golden Eagles notched victories in their respective events, from the pole vault to the 3,000-meter run.
“I think we’re definitely a solid team,” head coach Bert Rogers said. “We’ve got a lot of young talent and some good returners. I feel pretty good about our overall depth and where we’re at. It was nice to get some early season wins.”
Among those victorious was redshirt senior pole vaulter Lauren Darnall, who did not compete indoors in 2011-2012. Although she finished in first, she said it was not her best day.
“I didn’t do so well,” Darnell said. “I was kind of disappointed, but at the same time this was one of the first meets. I had a really hard time warming up, but other than that I just look forward to the next meet to rebound and forget about what happened.”
Darnall said she hopes to shake off some of her rust in practice this week. One athlete who has not shown much rust is senior sprinter Kyle Winter. He won the 600-meter dash in Madison with a time of 1:21.25, just 2.04 seconds off his personal best.
“I wanted to run a little bit faster than I ran, but I’m still happy with the win,” Winter said. “It’s a good way to start the season and get confidence up. Over the break I got my mileage up and kept my base going so I can have that under me for outdoor season.”
The level of competition for Marquette will get tougher as the season moves along. This should help Winter’s chase of Jon Shafer’s 600-meter record, from which he is still just .01 seconds away.
“I plan on giving it everything I’ve got and getting that record next week at Illinois,” Winter said.
Marquette’s distance runners made their debuts on the track with six men and five women in the 1,000-meter run. Junior Mitch Lacy won the men’s race with a time of 2:32.49 and was followed up by senior Spencer Agnew and sophomore Brendan Franz crossing the finish line less than a second behind.
Freshman Molly Hanson continues to be the top runner in her class with a win in the women’s 1,000-meter race. Her time of 2:57.87 meets the Big East qualifying mark, making her the first female freshman to punch her ticket to Geneva in February.
Senior Patrick Maag showed no signs of injury as he won the men’s mile (4:19) by a ten second margin over freshman William Hennessy (4:29.) Maag is still a few seconds off his personal best in the mile and has already qualified for the Big East Championship for the 5,000-meter dash.
Still looking for Big East marks are seniors Jack Senefeld (8:40.09) and Connor Callahan (8:46.21), who took first and second place in the men’s 3,000-meter run. The Golden Eagles took eight of the top ten spots with some of the freshmen racing in their first ever indoor meet. Sarah Poirier took the crown in the women’s race with a time of 10:14.14.
Marquette hopes to continue its success as it hits the road to Champaign, Illinois for the Illini Classic.