Track and field is not given enough credit in the sporting world. The lack of player-on-player contact gives track a lackluster appearance in the eyes of many a sports fan. However, track is a sport that requires huge amounts of dedication and heart.
The Loggers ended their indoor season last Sunday, Feb. 13 at the University of Washington Open. The team witnessed several strong performances. Andrea Leiken, for the third consecutive time, broke her own school record in the 400.
With a time of 1:01.01, Leiken rebroke the school record. She was one of the many Logger women that excelled during this last Sunday’s meet. Maya Heck and Marnie Hazlehurst also recorded personal bests.
Heck ranks fifth on the all-time record list for the indoor pole vaulting event with a vault of 2.74 meters. Hazlehurst, with a time of 10:53.40, ranks seventh on the all-time indoor records for the 3000.
“I came out and felt really confident on the pole. It was really good to get the practice time in a competitive environment. Its always good to get that first benchmark of the season, it’s really motivated me to work hard for the outdoor season,” Heck said.
Not to be outdone by the women, the men’s side also had several top finishes.
Lukas Diesing was able to etch his name as the ninth-best all-time indoor 200 with a time of 24.36. In the 400, Sean Tyree ran a 52.08 to rank third all-time while Robin Harkins ranked third all-time in the 3000 with a time of 8:34.82.
“The indoor meet was the first meet of my college career and it was very different than outdoor meets. These preseason meets really give people an opportunity to get a head starton knowing what they need to do to to succeed over the entire track season,” Diesing said.
The 4X400 men’s relay team also succeeded in running the second fastest time in school history with a time of 3:31.43.
“I think I can speak for the rest of the team when I say that now we know where we are competitively and where we want to be at the end of the season,” Diesing added.
The outdoor season will kickoff when the Loggers host the Quad Meet on the Don Shotwell Track on Mar 4-5.