by Tim Hoffstaetter
It is postseason time for winter sports and the indoor track and field team is no exception. The Maroons will be hosting the ODAC Championships, which means that the Cregger Center will soon be chock-full of top athletes from across the conference. It will be a very long meet so pop in and out at your leisure for an exciting day of competition. Day one of competition will start at noon on Saturday and day two will begin on Sunday at 11:00 a.m.
Now for the important stuff, Roanoke’s athletes! In total the Maroons have 44 athletes currently seeded in the top eight for their events. People who finish top eight in their events score points for their team which contributes to the overall team score for the competition. Seeding for the championship is based on times from the regular season.
On the women’s team, there are 28 women seeded in the top eight. There were also quite a few number of Roanoke athletes seeded anywhere between #9 and #12, so there are possibilities of those athletes also scoring points for the team depending on their performance. The top eight athletes include: Mikayla Heffron and Haylee Gamble ranked one and two, respectively, in the 400m; freshmen Sarah Kochanski and Madeline Rhyne in the 5k; Hannah Snodgrass as the #2 seed in the 60m hurdle; on the jumpers team, Cammi Winston sits at #2, Kim Roden #3, Kaitlyn Nguyen #4 and Eleanor Hinckley #8; Chloe Van Duyne at #3 in the pole vault; and Grace Fowler as the #2 seed in shot put and #3 in weight throw. Following just behind are Ashley Brown, seeded #11 in the mile and 5k, along with Taylor Poole at the #9 spot in the 60 meter — by just .01 of a second!
On the men’s team there are 16 athletes seeded in the top eight. These athletes include: Brady Fowler with the #1 spot in the 60m and #2 spot in the 200m; Samuel Crawford at #3 in the 200m and the 400m; Cooper Neeble at the #4 seed in the mile and the 3k; freshman Levi Counts in the 5k; and Joseph Eldridge at #3 in pole vault. The men’s team is rounded out with the #1 seed in the 4x400m relay!
Shamelessly, I would like to give myself a shoutout for competing in the mile and the #5 seeded distance medley relay. I am not seeded to get points in the mile, but I am gonna try my best. To the teammates I listed above and to those who went unnamed — you are all amazing and deserving of the recognition!
