The Marquette track and field program had a historic start to the new year as the group set two program records, 49 personal records, won 12 events, eight team victories, eight all-time marks and two facility records as both the men and women went 4-0 in duals at the John Tierney Classic held at UWM.
The highlight of the afternoon was senior pole vaulter Gemma Tedeschi setting both a facility and school record with a vault of 3.92 meters, or 12.92 feet. It stands as the highest jump in the BIG EAST by more than a foot.
The women continued their dominance in other field events, including the weight throw and high jump, as the Golden Eagles took first and second, respectively. Junior shot putter Maya Marion entered her name into the program record books by winning the event with a throw of 14.58 meters, or 47.10 feet. That throw ranked third all-time in program history. Meanwhile, both Monique Felix and Terica Harris had identical jumps in the long jump with a score of 5.74 meters, or 18 feet, 10 inches.
Cassy Goodrich set a school record in the 300-meter dash with a time of 39.48, beating the next fastest sprinter by over two seconds. Goodrich also won the 60-meter dash, setting her own personal record with a time of 7.72. Alison Parker won the 600-meter run with a time of 1:36.77, while Meghan Carroll finished right behind Parker with a time of 1:37.28.
To cap off the day, the distance runners dominated, as Marquette won both the mile and two-mile race. Clare McDonald won the mile with a time of 5:02.66, while Brittney Feivor (5:05.17) and Mary Hanson (5:06.23) took second and third. Jennifer Parker won the two-mile in a time of 10:06.55.
Marquette head coach Bert Rodgers was pleased with how the Golden Eagles performed and is looking for more next week.
“We had some very good performances by both squads today and a number of good things happened,” Rogers said. “I really thought we competed hard. First meet back after the new year can be a little rusty, but we still had some really good performances. We broke a couple school records, a couple facility records and set a number of top-10 marks. I’m proud of everyone and we’re looking forward to next weekend at Minnesota.”
The men did not fare as well on the track as the women did, as Brad Eagan recorded the lone win in the 3000-meter race with a personal best 8:41.33.
Sophomore sprinter Connor Boos took second in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.01, while Brandon Bell and Karl Tatum took third and fourth, respectively.
In yet another consistent performance by junior Alec Miller, he took second in the mile with a time of 4:14.16.
In the field, the Golden Eagles performed well and William Ford won the pole vault event with a vault of 4.51 meters, or 14.95 feet. Dwayne Dash took second in the long jump with a score of 7.18 meters.
Marquette will travel to the Twin Cities next weekend as they will compete in the Jack Johnson Invitational hosted by the University of Minnesota.