With the North Coast Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships two weeks away, Friday’s meet at Rose Hulman served as a “tune up” for the men and women’s track and field teams.
The men took home a sixth place finish out of nine teams while the women finished up in fifth position out of 10 competing teams.
“We had some good things happen,” head coach Kori Stroffregen said. "The weather was beautiful…and that sure [made] the meet go well.”
Senior Noah Gatwood also thought the weather played an important part in the team’s strong results.
“The conditions on Friday were perfect,” Gatwood said. “The Twilight meet [at Rose-Hulman] has always been a time for good performances.”
On the men’s side the team received another strong performance from junior Marcus Dozier, who put up the longest discus throw in all of Division III this season, while also placing first in the shot put. He currently holds the DePauw University record in the shot put.
In the 5,000 meter-run, Gatwood (15:52.22) placed fourth while first-year Nick Meszaros (15:54.65) placed sixth. The Tigers also got a strong race from the 4x400 relay team, who placed third with a time of 3:26.26.
“[We are] trying to put ourselves in the best position possible to succeed at the conference meet,” first-year Kevin Kenney, who ran a season-best split in the 4x400, said. “We really came together as a team with that relay…everyone ran great.”
For the women’s team, first-year pole vaulter Rachel Gutish broke the school record for a second time, having already accomplished the feat at the Indiana Division III Championships the previous weekend.
“I couldn’t be happier with how I did,” Gutish said. “I haven’t even pole vaulted 11-6 since my junior year of high school, so to jump 11-9 breaking the school record I just set last weekend by a full six inches was pretty unbelievable, and definitely unexpected.”
DePauw was also paced by first and second place finishes by sophomore Emma MacAnally and senior Megan Everhart respectively in the 5,000 meter, while senior Celia Kauth won the high jump.
All this came with having numerous runners out injured on the women’s side.
“I’d be hard pressed to name more than a few of us who aren’t struggling with something right now,” Gutish said. “In a way, we kind of sacrificed it…gave everyone the chance to recuperate a little bit.”
The Tigers next meet will come next Saturday at the Bellarmine Classic in Louisville, Kentucky, which will serve as another opportunity to taper in preparation for the conference championships.
“This is the last regular meet of the season,” Kauth said. “It’s important to walk into…conference…with not only solid times, heights, lengths and throws, but confidence.”
Stroffregen agreed.
“We’re in a good place…what we need now is for the team to rally and get together and get really focused,” Stroffregen said. “If we’re able to do that, we can really take our game to another level.”
Senior Hope Jordan perhaps summed up the time remaining before conference best: “A lot can happen in two weeks.”