Junior Amen Galley dives feet first into sand
during the long jump at the DePauw Classic.
Galley finished third in the long jump while teammate
Brian Mincks was second in the 800 meters.
SAM CARAVANA/THE DEPAUW
Competing as hosts for the final time of the Winter’s indoor meet season, both the men’s and women’s track and field squads pulled out solid finishes.
On the men’s side, the Tigers finished third out of 10 teams while the women walked away with a second place finish out of the nine competing teams.
“I’m happy as long as everyone came out and competed at their best,” junior Marcus Dozier said of the men’s efforts. “I do not believe we are at our overall best at the moment as we are still early in the season, however I do believe we will become a top team in our conference.”
Once again, it was junior Marcus Dozier who stole the show for the Tigers in the shot put. His throw of 16.11 meters was enough to give him a first place finish.
The win in the event makes it three straight solid meets for Dozier this season. He finished second in the event at the Tiger Small College invitational while breaking the school record. The following weekend, he broke his own record once again and finished first at the DePauw Invitational.
“I would say it has been very successful so far and I hope I can continue to improve so I can compete at nationals again,” Dozier said.
The Tigers’ men's 4x200 team also took home first place, winning the event with a time of 1:35.90.
In addition to Dozier, the 3000 meter runners also had strong performances. Junior Paul Watts and first-year Polo Burguete finished second and third respectively with times close to the 8:50 mark.
“I was very happy,” Watts said. “We got every place second through fifth so it was great to have my teammates to group up early in the race and start with a quick pace.”
In total, the men finished the event with 91 points, a mark good enough for third place and 112 points behind eventual winner, Wabash College.
For the women, the second place finish is actually their worst of the indoor season. The Tigers captured first in both the Tiger Small College Classic and the DePauw Invitational earlier this month.
Following their male counterparts, the 4x200 team also took home a first place finish with a time of 1:50.62.
In the individual portion of the competition, junior Heather O’Brien crossed the finish line first in the 3000 meter run after completing the event in just under 10:45. Also finishing first for the Tigers was senior Celia Kauth who won the high jump with her highest jump of 1.59 meters.
“I was happy with my performance because I had to come back from a competitive one mile race a few hours before that,” O’Brien said. “So I was hesitant to go out hard because I didn’t know how much my legs had left. But surprisingly, I felt great so I just went with the pace I was setting and kept it consistent.”
The women’s 122 points put them in second place out of the nine teams that competed in the event and 59 points behind Bellarmine University that won with a 181.
Both of DePauw’s teams are back in action this Saturday when they travel to Anderson University to compete in the Fred Wilt Invitational.