photos by Ty Smith
Point Park men’s and women’s track teams competed in their third meet ever this past weekend in Geneva, Ohio at the SPIRE Midwest Open at Spire Institute.
The teams set a total of 11 team records (six for women, five for men) at the two-day meet that started Friday night, according to the University’s athletics page.
Eric Torres, a freshman distance runner, started the meet off Friday, running in the 5000-meter with a time of 15:56. The Texas native who also runs cross country, competed in the 3000 meter coming in at 9:08.
Head coach Kelly Parsley said he is very impressed with Torres’ performance.
“He ran a 5k yesterday under 16 minutes then came back today and ran almost 20 seconds faster in the 3k than he did last week,” Parsley said.
The women’s 4×400 meter relay team that included sprinters Taelor Fowler, Chereese Langley, Olukemi Olugbakinro and Amber Brown increased their speed this week (4:26.39), cutting five whole seconds from their previous best.
Fowler, a 25-year-old, who Parsley says has not ran track competitively in six years, set two individual records in the 60 and 200-meter dash with times of 8.24 and 27.12 seconds, respectively.
“Taelor has improved every single race and every single meet this year so far, she had a fantastic day,” Parsley said in a post-meet interview Saturday.
Christian Capers, Zachary Watt, Chris Hunt and Falonte Jackson competed in the men’s 4×400 meter relay with a time of 3:36.66.
Zachary Watt, a freshman sprinter from Warren, Ohio, made some noise on Saturday placing third in the 600 meter with a school record time of 1:25.85.
Watt was just half a second shy of the first place winner Keith Hemphill (1.25.31) of Lake Erie.
Freshman Alexis Sherman, a former hurdler, competed in the one-mile run and 800-meter run with a time of 6:32.05 and 2:59.15, respectively. Sherman said running cross country this past season led her to become a distance runner.
“I ran two seconds faster in my mile than I did last week. I’m happy about that,” Sherman said after the meet. “Next week, I hope to finally break my personal record in my mile.”
Michael Beavis, the only senior on the men’s team, started day two competing in the shot put. Beavis threw 9.95 meters, .15 meters shorter than he did last week at the SPIRE North Coast Open.
Mid-distance runner Mckenzie Wilson cut off three seconds from her best in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:46.99. Wilson said she thinks the teams performed well.
“It was an extremely competitive meet, and everyone did really well. I hope to continue to knock time off and for the team overall to continue to have good showings,” Wilson said.
According to Parsley, the outdoor track season will begin next month.
“We’re still new, it’s a new program,” Parsley said. “Hopefully, we’re going to make a name for ourselves and have the local area start recognizing that Point Park has a track team and that we’re pretty competitive.”
The indoor track season continues this week as the Pioneers travel to Alliance, Ohio where the teams will compete at the Mt. Union Jim Wuske Invitational on Feb.7.
Freshman hurdler Jahniah McAllister competes in the 60 meter hurdles at the SPIRE Midwest Open in Geneva, Ohio on Jan. 31.
