On Saturday, the DePauw track and field team traveled to Terre Haute, Indiana to open their outdoor season at the Rose-Hulman Early Bird Invitational.
The men’s team finished in second place after scoring 111 points, while the women’s team finished in third place after scoring 118 points.
“Collectively, we were really happy with how the meet went,” Head Coach Kori Stoffregen said. “Normally the first outdoor meet is a hard one to get up and go for but we really got after it on Saturday and the results show that.”
The men were led by a pair of first place finishes in the 200 meters from first-year Jordan Booker, who ran the event in a time of 22.82, and in the 5,000 meters from sophomore Paul Christian, who finished with a time of 15:16.03. The team also collected three second place finishes from sophomores Johnny Miller and Demarco Henry, and first-year Kyle Munz. Miller earned his second place finish in the 400 meters, after running the event in a time of 51.38. Henry finished second in the discus, after launching the discus 42.60 meters. Munz rounded out the team’s second place finishes in the 3,000 steeplechase, after he running the event in a time of 10:24.98.
“I couldn’t really give myself any expectations going into the race,” Munz said. “We were only able to practice jumping a couple times before the meet, so the race required a lot of mental preparation.”
The women’s team was led by NCAC women’s distance runner of the week, first-year Natalie Gruszka. Gruszka took first in the 800 meters, after running the event in a time of 2:23.47, and continued her strong performance by taking a second first place in the 1,500 meters, finishing in a time of 5:01.31.
The distance group saw their exceptional performances continue into the 3,000 meters steeplechase, as DePauw took the top four spots in the event. First-year Tori Flowers led the group of runners, as she won the event with a time of 12:34.11.
The women also received strong performances from their sprint group. Sophomore Kaitlyn Daanen and senior Amanda Weber received first and third place finishes, respectively, in the 100 meters, after Daanen finished with a time of 12.77 and Weber finished the race in 12.85. Weber also picked up a fourth first place finish for the team in the 200 meters, after winning the race with a time of 26.55.
One of the challenges the team faced during the meet was the adjustment to competing outdoors, rather than competing indoors. With temperatures in the 40’s throughout the meet, as well as wind, the conditions provided an additional challenge for the athletes.
“The cold weather on Saturday was definitely an adjustment,” Weber said. “But I think we were energized by the different events and possibilities of a new season.”
The team will look to continue their strong showing on April 1, as they travel to Centre College to compete in the Centre Invitational.