Marquette track and field traveled to Minneapolis this past weekend to compete in the Jack Johnson Classic. The Golden Eagles were one of 18 teams that participated in the two-day invitational.
Before the meet, coach Bert Rogers talked about how this meet would be different than the John Tierney Triangular, which consisted of only three teams.
“This meet will be a little bit more about individual performances and looking to improve individually in your event,” Rogers said. “We’re not as worried about team score, so as an individual, you can really focus on your event. There’s less impact on the team if you risk something.”
The coach’s message appeared to resonate with his team. During the course of the meet, seven new top-10 marks in Marquette history were set.
“Overall, it was a successful weekend,” Rogers told GoMarquette.com. “There are some things we want to continue to work and improve upon and we have several weeks to prepare ourselves for the Big East meet.”
For the second straight week, freshmen provided the most eye-catching performances. Alec Miller won the men’s 800-meter run with a time of 1:52.50. His twin brother, Aric, finished the race in fifth place with a time of 1:56.24. Alec’s 1:52.50 clocks in as the 10th-fastest 800-meter time in Marquette history.
“For the Millers, Alec really took control half way through and pulled away,” Rogers told GoMarquette.com. “He really dominated and his brother, Aric, was sick earlier this week but still ran a solid race as well. It was nice to see both of those twins have good days as they will be key performers for us going forward.”
The standout runs of the weekend on the women’s side occurred in the 800-meter event and were also contributed by freshmen twins. Jessica Parker finished third in the event while her twin sister, Jennifer, finished fourth. Jessica ran the event in 2:13.15, which is the third-fastest 800 time in Marquette women’s history. Jennifer, who finished a mere five milliseconds behind her twin sister, claimed the fourth spot on that list.
“Jessica and Jennifer were in the same heat and had to battle it out at the end,” Rogers told GoMarquette.com. “They ran nice, smart, clean races and the two people who beat them were in separate heats.”
Some other notable results from Marquette athletes include sophomore Joel Swanberg’s performance on the 60-meter hurdles (8.70 seconds, third best in the Big East this season), Kellie Greenwood’s second place showing in the 3,000 meter run (9:35.26, the second fastest time in Marquette history), and Anna Strong’s 400-meter run (56.36 seconds, good for fifth place in the event and the second fastest time in Marquette history).
Marquette will now turn its attention toward the next meet, the Meyo Invitational on Notre Dame’s campus in South Bend, Ind., which begins on Friday.
