In their final tuneup meet before the reigning conference champions head to New York City to defend their BIG EAST title, the Marquette track and field team first had to make a stop in Madison, where they competed in the UW Shell Shocker Friday. The team fared well as a few Golden Eagles won events, while others placed.
To lead off, junior Joshua Word took third in the 60-meter dash, but finished second all-time in school history with a time of 6.92 seconds. Other takeaways include the long jump when senior Dwayne Dash Jr. jumped to victory with a score of 6.72 meters (22 feet, 0.75 inches). Junior Cory Cegelski took second with a jump of 6.67 meters (21 feet, 10.75 inches). Freshman Daniel Armstrong took home the win in the high sum with a score of 2.05 meters (6 feet, 8.75 inches).
Head coach Bert Rogers said this put Marquette into a good position heading into the conference championship next week.
“It was a pretty good tuneup meet. We were able to get done whatever we needed to do to get ready for next week,” Rogers told Gomarquette.com. “Some people were running some off events just to tune up and others got the weekend off.”
“Overall, I think we got out of this what we were looking for,” Rogers continued. “It was about being ready to roll next week and I think we’re in a good spot. We’re excited to get to BIG EAST.”
On the women’s side, sophomore Monica Voudrie’s weight throw stole the show for the Golden Eagles. Voudrie’s second throw broke her own record of 18.06 meters, or an astounding 59 feet, three inches. The throw is the fourth best in Marquette history, and sits atop the BIG EAST for this season, a good sign heading into next weekend.
Other highlights included sophomore Mary Hanson winning the mile with a time of 5:09.47. Meanwhile, freshman Madison Marko placed third in the long jump with a mark of 5.09 meters (17 feet, six inches).
Back on the men’s side, it was a strong finish for Marquette, as they ended the day on the podium. The Golden Eagles placed 1-2 in the 3000-meter run, as freshman Max McClelland took home first with a time of 8:54.06, while junior Jack Carpenter took second with a time of 9:04.62. Junior Will Eggers set a personal best in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.98 seconds. Senior William Ford had his best jump of the season in the pole vault with a vault of 4.57 meters, or 15 feet.
Marquette will travel to Staten Island, New York, for the BIG EAST Indoor Championships, set for Friday-Saturday, Feb. 24-25 at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex. The women look to repeat as BIG EAST champions, while the men hope to join them, as they narrowly finished second last season.
