by Lauren Roth
The Roanoke College track and field team began their outdoor track season on March 19 with a trip to Lexington, VA to compete in the Washington & Lee Carnival. This was a two-day event where the Maroons saw plenty of action, including insight into how the other ODAC schools were doing.
There was quite an array of accomplishments at this first meet, specifically for the women’s team. Hannah Snodgrass broke the 100m record with a time of 14.56 and finished second in her race. The 4×400 relay team also placed runner-up with a time of 3:57.92, which is now the second overall time in DIII and the top ODAC time. Savannah Gheen also broke records with her 5.09 long jump, making her the top in the ODAC. The 4×100 team also placed seventh in DIII leader boards and grabbed the top spot in the ODAC. Lily Lippert made a splash for the Maroons by finishing second in the 400m hurdles, making her 18th in DIII and fourth in conference.
The men’s team also made their mark in the opening outdoor event of the season with Brady Fowler breaking another school record in the 100m dash with a 10.70 second time, this makes him sixth in DIII and third in ODAC. The men’s 4×100 team was also nationally ranked ninth in DIII and second in the ODAC with a time of 442.25 seconds. Samuel Crawford is first in the ODAC and ninth in DIII in the 200m dash.
The Maroons then traveled to Lynchburg, VA, and Bridgewater, VA last weekend to compete in two events. At Lynchburg, the men’s 4×100 team placed first with a time of 42.26 seconds. Samuel Crawford also placed first for the Maroons in the 400m dash, bringing him to first in the ODAC and 14th in DIII. Fowler also broke into national ranks in the 200m dash with a time of 21.86 seconds. Fowler currently sits at second in the ODAC and 15th in DIII. For the women’s team, Hannah Koepfinger would place in the top 8 for three different events, long jump (sixth place, 5.16m), 100m hurdles (seventh place, 16.03), and 400m hurdles (third, 1:06.78).
At Bridgewater, the Maroons continued to show off their skill. For women, Grace Fowler placed second in the discus (31.53m) and fourth in shot put (10.98m). Abbey Gajtkowski placed second in the hammer throw (39.88m) and Elisabeth Cullen placed third in javelin (36.14m).
The Maroons started the outdoor season with a bang. The team’s next competition will be the weekend of April 1-2 at High Point University.
