The Point Park Pioneers Track and Field teams competed in the annual indoor Track and Field Championship in Logan, Ohio. The team’s last track and field meet was February 12 in Ohio at the Kent State National Qualifier.

Both the men and women’s team competed on February 19 in Logan, Ohio. They looked to take home back-to-back RSC Championships.

In the men’s track and field meet, the Pioneers annihilated their competition. Point Park shattered the previous RSC championship record by 36 points, tallying a total of 242 points. The second place team was 117 points behind the Pioneers.

The team was led by both sophomore Daimere Stewart and sophomore Collins Eze. Stewart broke a school record in the 200m earlier in the year, and Eze won Point Park Athlete of the Month in January. Their success and momentum carried over into the RSC Championship.
Stewart led the meet with 36 overall points. Stewart hit the podium four times and took home the gold in the 60 meter dash (6.89), the 200 meter dash (22.48), and the men’s long jump (6.95 m).

Eze also had a successful day, tallying 25 points, while also coming in second in points.

Eze made the podium twice. He won gold in the men’s triple jump (14.09 m) and won a bronze medal in the high jump (1.85 m).

Eze won RSC Field Athlete of The Year, and Stewart won Track Athlete of The Year due to their performances.
Sophomore Damir Lomax also had an impressive outing. Lomax scored a school record for the 60m hurdles earlier in the year (8.70). Lomax had yet another impressive outing, making the podium twice. He was second in the 60 meter hurdles (8.51) and second in the 400 meter dash (51.23).

Freshman Steve Bradley finished first in the 400 meter dash (51.09). The top 3 in that event were Bradley, Lomax, and freshman Juan Barerra.

Barerra made the podium twice. Once in the 400 meter dash and once, winning the 400 meter relay alongside freshman Isaiah White, Lomax and junior Darnell Clemm.

White had an impressive outing throughout the day, compiling 19 points, while also making the podium twice. He won gold in the 600 meter run (1:52.52). Freshman Toby Wright also made the podium in this event coming in 3rd (1:26.77).

The Pioneers also found success in the throwing events. Sophomore Nasir Galloway made his way to the podium in the shot put event (13.23 m), and senior Daniel Jacobs came in second for the weight throw (14.29 m).

Jacobs, who is the captain of the team, also earned the Champion of Character Award, which is awarded to a team leader who shows endless support and kindness to their team. Although he is satisfied with winning the award, he said he focuses more on the team than the accomplishment.

“It’s always nice to always go out there and try to support everybody and try to root everybody on and I suppose it’s a nice thing that that’s noticed,” said Jacobs. “I just love going out going out there and supporting everybody cheering everybody on.”

Jacobs said he loves captaining the team and was impressed with the team’s effort.

“We did better than we’ve ever done before,” said Jacobs. “We actually broke a meet record for the most points ever scored at indoor conferences by 36 points, so it’s pretty nice whenever we’re able to go and represent Point Park like that.”

Freshman Jannik Windelband also represented the Pioneers at the RSC Championship meet. He achieved gold in the one mile run, timing in at 4:37.25. He made the podium alongside White, freshman Ramiro Ulunque and senior Doug Kostelansky in the 4×800 meter relay. Windelband also came in second in the 1000 meter run (2:42.59), and junior Logan Gonzales followed behind him in third (2:44.07). Windelband said he was glad he was able to contribute in the waning moments of the indoor track season.

“It felt awesome. I think I definitely did not have the best indoor season for me personally, but to finish it off with a win was just an awesome feeling,” said Windelband. “It was really tough, especially after running the 4×8 before.”

Windelband said he was proud of his teammates’ performance in the 4×800 meter relay, and he looks forward to seeing how well the team can do in the future.

“We have a great group of distance kids, three of the four were freshmen, which is really insane if you really think about that, we have a lot of freshmen who can run really fast,” said Windelband.

Windelband added that he loves running with his teammates because it takes the pressure off of the event, knowing that they are great runners too.

Junior John Ziegler was very impressed with the production of the underclassmen. Ziegler, who is the captain of the Cross Country team, came in 4th in the 800 meter run and 5th in the 1 mile run.

“I think the DMR (Distance Medley Relay) really shows who took the show away at the meet,” Ziegler said. “The freshmen showed up and made their statement that they are ready to compete at this level. From the field, to the sprints and all the way to the 5k, you’ll see people scoring and getting medals from the freshman class.”

In the DMR, the Pioneers had four freshmen compete, including Elijah James, Andy Schach and Ulunque. Ulunque also was second place in the 800 meter run (2:032.35), and junior Treven Carter followed behind him in third (2:03.82).

Both Windelband and Ziegler knew prior to the DMR that they were bound to take home first place. Ziegler said he sees a bright future ahead of the men’s track and field team.

“Some really big names from the freshman class have to be Isaiah, Jannik and Ramiro. All three of these guys brought home multiple medals starting out the day together in the 4×8,” said Ziegler. “I think they have extraordinarily bright futures ahead, and I foresee them qualifying for nationals at some point in the future. They just have to keep putting in the work everyday, and they haven’t shown any signs of letting up yet.”

Ziegler and the team aim to take well deserved rest and look forward to the outdoor track and field season.

The women’s track and field team also had quite the performance.

The Pioneers piled on 201 points throughout the day and won by a landslide. Point Park won the RSC Championship for the second year. The second place team had 124 points, which was 77 points behind the green and gold.

Senior Alyssa Campbell and junior Sophie Jebose came away with the most points in the meet. Campbell finished with 34.50 points, and Jebose tallied 31.50 points.

Jebose made her way to the podium on four occasions. She was first place in the triple jump (11.32 m), second place in the weight throw (12.66 m), second in the long jump (5.27 m) and third in the pole vault (3.02 m). Her efforts won her RSC field athlete of the year.

Campbell also produced for the team. Campbell won gold three times. She came in first in the mile run (5:32.38), the 3000 meter run (11:03.72) and the 800 meter run (2:22.98). Her impressive outing earned her Track Athlete of The Year. Campbell said she was amazed at the underclassmen’s production and was glad she was able to contribute to the team’s success. She was also happy that everyone had a phenomenal showing.

“We have a lot of really good freshmen that came in, and they scored a lot of points for us in a bunch of different events. It was really nice to win,” Campbell said. “We took so many photos at the end, and we were just so excited because we wanted it so badly. The coaches were really happy too, and it’s always nice seeing them happy because they put in a lot of effort into us and we get to celebrate that success together.”

Campbell got to run with her teammates and went to the podium with them on two occasions. Campbell, senior Alyssa Frausto, sophomore Allison Plassio, and freshman Corrine Lee-Hauser won gold in the 4×800 meter relay. Campbell also ran alongside Plassio, Lee-Hauser and junior Chandni Shah in the DMR, where they achieved second place. Campbell sees limitless potential for the track and field team for seasons to come.

“I was thinking about how they were all underclassmen I ran with and how they’re going to give the team success in the future. They’re going to be really good leaders,” said Campbell. “I love those girls with all my heart. They work so hard and they’re so dedicated and they wanted to give it their best. They were really terrific all day and at practice. The way they were able to step out for that last event and give it their all makes me very proud to be with them.”

Campbell mentioned that she was also blown away at freshman Jana Schmid’s success. Schmid spent the majority of her cross country on bikes and participated in her first meet of the year at the RSC Championship. Schmid is no stranger to success as she qualified for Nationals in Cross Country late last year. Campbell knew this but said she was still amazed by her performance.

Schmid went to the podium after coming in third for the 600 meter run (1:47.44). She also came in fourth in the 1000 meter run (3:21.94), putting up five additional points. Schmid finished with 11 overall points. Schmid was ecstatic about the team winning.

“It was my first time winning the RSC Championship with the team, but it was an amazing feeling,” said Schmid. “I really enjoyed how excited the team was, and I am even more proud that Point Park University won the RSC the years before, too.”

Schmid added she was grateful that she was able to contribute to the team.

“I was glad to get some points for the team,” Schmid said. “I really didn’t expect much after weeks of biking and thus I was really happy.”

Schmid noticed how well the younger athletes of the team competed. She believes that a young team will keep the track and field team at the top of the RSC due to having a young core. Schmid was happy to see everyone do well including freshman Emma Pavelek.

Pavelek qualified for nationals earlier in the year. Pavelek won gold in the high jump (1.67 m) and scored 24.50 points throughout the day.

She also came in third in the 4×400 meter relay, along with sophomore Natalea Hillen, junior Lexi Langdon and freshman Hannah Bond.

Nia Goodman also provided the team with success. Goodman won gold in the 60 meter hurdles (9.54 m). Senior Terese Lujua finished right behind her, winning silver (9.55). Goodman also won the Champion of Character award.

Coach Tim Creamer won the RSC Indoor Track and Field Coach for both the men and women’s teams.

Pavelek, Jebose, Campbell, Stewart, and Eze all qualified for Nationals in Brookings, South Dakota. The National Association of
Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Championship takes place from March 3, 2022 to March 5, 2022.