Saturday, April 6 saw a powerful performance put on by the Loggers’ Men’s and Women’s track and field team. During the JD Shotwell Invitational, held on campus at Baker Stadium, the Loggers sprinted up the leaderboard and placed second in the event overall.
With school rival Pacific Lutheran University at the invitational, the Loggers still put on quite the show in all events to cement their victory throughout the whole event.
One of the most exciting results of the event came darting through by the feet of sophomore Rachael Metzler. According to Logger Athletics, Metzler placed first in the 800-meter run with a time of two minutes and 22.74 seconds. “I met one of my goals, which was to qualify for conference in the 800. So I was very much on a high from the race and felt so much love from my teammates,” Metzler said.
In the women’s final 100-meter dash, senior Lura Morton came in third with a speedy time of 13.50 seconds, crossing the line after two Pacific Lutheran athletes.
During the women’s 4×400 meter relay, the Loggers came in second, posting another great result by the combined team of first-year Hannah Cottnair, sophomores Tatiana Klein and Rachael Metzler and junior Megan Stills. Only two seconds behind the speedy Pacific Lutheran squad, this is a clear sign of promise for the rest of the Loggers’ season. “Everyone has been working hard all season preparing for the conference,” Metzler said.
First-year Sydney Denham placed first in the women’s high jump competition, soaring above the other top jumpers, both of whom were Pacific Lutheran athletes. Denham also posted a top score of 1.47 meters in the finals. Senior Kaitlin Cochran leaped into second place in the women’s triple jump event, finishing the day with a top distance of 9.67 meters.
Senior Collin Heimbach placed first in the men’s 400-meter dash, sprinting past the finish line more than a second before the next runner crossed.
“That meet especially I was running hard for the team and for the ones who were injured and couldn’t compete, so it pushed me to run hard,” Heimbach said. Heimbach, along with juniors Basil Engledow, Isaac Fournier and Jack Monaghan also came in first in the men’s 4×400 meter relay event.
Certainly some of the Loggers’ credit must go to the coaches, Lisa Kushiyama and Mike Orechia, who’ve been working the teams on consistency out of the blocks and overall stamina for each event.
“Our coaches provide different sprint workouts for Mondays and Wednesdays. Those usually consist of a few 200m sprints with a few 100m sprints and then some 50m. So kinda like interval training. Tuesdays and Thursdays we practice our starts out of the blocks and handoffs for the relays,” Heimbach said.
With the season nearing its conclusion, this meet was certainly a staple in the Loggers’ dominant performance throughout the year. Combining the practices put on by the dedicated coaches and the physical skills brought by the athletes, the track and field team are continuing to work on form, speed and strength.
The two closest upcoming events to mark on the calendar are the Lewis and Clark invitational held on Saturday, April 20 in Portland, Oregon, and the Northwest Conference (NWC) Championships on April 26 and 27 in Parkland, Washington.
