The men’s and women’s track teams will return from their Spring Break meets –– the UC Irvine Invitational and the Titan Twilight –– with sore muscles and tanned faces. But the Red returns from California endowed with more than just sunburns; both teams gained valuable experience in their first meets of the season, posted impressive results and put in a week of quality training in the California sunshine, hence the sore muscles.  

To head coaches Lou Duesing and Nathan Taylor, the meets in California were not intended to be particularly competitive or taxing. Instead, they were designed to ease the Red athletes back into the outdoor track mindset and events. 

“It’s an opportunity to do events that aren’t done in indoor track: hammer, javelin, discus, 4x100 relays, steeple chase … so it’s a big piece for jump-starting the season,” Taylor said.Freshman Sarah Hein recovered from a shaky outing on bars to post quality scores in both floor and vault.: Senior Duane Teixeira posted an IC4A-qualifying mark of 24-0 3/4 in the long jump at the UC Irvine Invitational over Spring Break. Teixeira also finished first in both the long jump and triple jump at the Titan Twilight. - By: Lindsay Myron

Still, the Red performed impressively at the Irvine Invitational on March 20, qualifying numerous athletes for the upcoming IC4A championships at Princeton in May. 

The men’s team finished first in three events at Irvine, including the 4x100 relay, 1500 and long jump. The 4x100 relay, comrpised of senior Josh Kirkpatrick, freshman Jedidiah Adarquah-Yiadon, sophomore Chase Aaronson and freshman Bruno Hortelano-Roig, finished in an impressive 41.07. Freshman Nick Wade won the 1500 in 3:51.7, with junior Nate Edelman close behind at 3:55.6. Senior Duane Teixeira posted impressive results in the long jump as usual, finishing first and qualifying for the IC4A with a mark of 24-0 3/4. 

The women’s team fared even better, finishing first in nine events at Irvine. In throwing, freshman Victoria Imbesi led the way in javelin with a school record of 149-0. In pole vault, senior Natalie Gengel also finished first, and sophomore Kristin Brandt won the triple jump with a 39-9 3/4. The women’s team also won the 4x100 relay, steeple chase, 400, 100 and 5k. 

Despite a hard week of training, the Red came out even stronger at the Titan Twilight on March 26.

The women’s team placed first in 16 events, including a 24.3 by sophomore Melissa Hewitt in the 200. Other victors included senior Jessica Weyman in the 400 hurdles, sophomore Dani Silas in the 100 hurdles, senior Kate Backel in the 400m and freshman Genna Hartung in the 3000m. In the field, junior Cassie Schweighofer took discus, while Gengel led the way in pole vault once again.  

The men’s team also eclipsed its performance at Irvine, winning six events at the Titan Twilight. Once again, Teixeira led the way in jumps, finishing first in both the long jump and the triple jump. The Red also picked up victories in the throws, courtesy of sophomore Bob Belden. Belden finished first in both the shot put –– with an IC4A qualifying mark –– and in the discus. In the 110 hurdles, senior Ola Williams picked up a win with a 14.65, and once again, the Red won the 4x100. 

After a week-and-a-half of training, the Red will next compete at the Bucknell Invitational on April 9.