The men's and women's track and field teams continued to vie for Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference titles with strong performances over the weekend at the Indiana Little State Championships. Hosted by Indiana Wesleyan University, the annual meet featured NCAA Div. II, III and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics programs from around the state.
Led by senior Courtney Lauer's first-place finish in the javelin, the women's team totaled 58 points to place sixth out of 17 squads. Vincennes University won the meet with 121 points, while the Indiana Institute of Technology took second with 108 points and the University of Indianapolis scored 101 points to come in third.
In addition to winning the javelin competition, Lauer also finished fourth in the high jump at 1.55 meters (5-1.00), fifth in the triple jump at 10.57 meters (34-8.25) and eighth in the long jump at 5.25 meters (17-2.75).
While Lauer said competing in so many events was challenging logistically and physically, she was pleased with the results.
"It was really fun for javelin because it was my last event," she said. "I pulled out my best throw on my last throw and edged out a couple of the Div. II girls, so that was exciting for me."
DePauw also had key performances by younger athletes, as sophomore Kathleen Molloy placed second in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:15.94. Sophomore Jess Macy finished third in the 1,500-meter run (4:55.56) and second in the 5,000-meter run (18:22.36). Meanwhile, freshman Siri Retrum posted a time of 39:02.67 to take second in the 10,000-meter run and junior Lindsey Bauman placed seventh in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (12:23.87).
The Tigers' 4x100-meter relay team claimed eighth at 50.71 seconds, and the 4x100 squad took seventh with a time of 4:07.82.
The men's squad also had a good showing, taking eighth of 17 teams with 33 points. The University of Indianapolis claimed the title with 154.5 points, Vincennes University finished second with 122.2 points and Indiana Tech took third at 96.7 points.
Senior Nick Pucillo recorded the highest finish for the Tigers, taking second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with his time of 9:53.08. Junior Tyler Giesting finished third in the 800-meter run, posting a time of 1:54.87. Meanwhile, freshman Adam Cecil placed eighth in the 1,500-meter run (4:09.65) and classmate Stu Newstat also finished eighth in the 10,000-meter run (33:05.34).
DePauw's 4x100-meter relay came in third with a time of 43.35 seconds.
"We had a lot of events get better, especially in our sprints," said head coach Kori Stoffregen. "We feel good about them gaining lots of momentum as we get ready for conference."
With just two weeks remaining until the SCAC Championships, both teams will head to Rose-Hulman next weekend for a final tune-up.
"We're looking really strong here in these last couple weeks," Lauer said. "Rhodes [College] and Centre [College] will be our biggest rivals and we're getting a little better each week so I think we're going to give them a run at conference."