The men and women’s track and field teams, wanting to get more players involved and more personal times established, accomplished both at the Illinois College Invitational in Jacksonville, IL, on February 6. Webster University competed in 12 different events including, for the first-time indoors, the triple-jump, shot put, 55-meter(m) hurdles, and the one-mile run.
Keara Hunt (JR, Cahokia HS, IL) ran the 55m dash in 9.26 seconds. Marissa Gibbs (JR, Springfield HS, IL) ran a 31.45 in the 200m dash and Danielle Sanders (JR, Hazelwood Central HS, STL) ran it in 35.34. Gibbs also ran in the 400m dash, posting a time of 71.75. In the long jump, Sanders hit 3.76m and in the shot put, Lesley Rankin (FR, Gateway Institute of Technology, STL) hit a distance of 9.01m.
On the men's side, in the 400m dash, Aaron Oberneufemann (FR, Mt. Olive HS, IL) ran 54.78 and Robert Aaron (JR, Christian Brothers HS, STL) ran 59.04. In the 800m dash, David Koppelmann (FR, Owensville HS, MO) ran 2:10.31 and Robert Hohensee (FR, Buffalo HS, MO) ran 2:15.70. Koppelman finished the one-mile run in 4:57.74 and Blake Harris (FR, O'Fallon, IL) ran the 5000m run in 17:47 even.
Aaron ran the 55m hurdles as well, clocking in at 10:49 and also threw the shot put for 9.45m. In the high jump, Oberneufemann and Hohensee tied in the event, both reaching 1.78m. A.J. Wallace (FR, Warrenton HS, MO) hit 6.03m in the long jump and 12.64m in the finals of the triple-jump.
Head coach Dusty Lopez said of the meet, "We took some more positive steps today as a program. At this point, even with our very young team, we are starting to get past the jitters of stepping up to the track at the college level. That’s important, because it lets us focus less on the competition and more on improving as individuals and as a team.
We had some ups and downs today as far as performance today, but this early in the year it’s not something that worries me greatly. Our workouts have been going well, so I expect our consistency to improve as long as we stay healthy."
Both teams make one final trip to Jacksonville to participate in the Illinois College Alumni Invitational on February 19. This will also be the final indoor meet for the track and field teams for the 2010 season.