St.Louis Track meet at Washington University
Chasen Selsor racing in the open 400 at the St. Louis track meet.
By Chasin Selsor
Even when traveling a good seven hours away from Forest City to St. Louis, Missouri, Waldorf University’s Track and Field team has once again made a big statement for their program. Ninety track and field teams were represented at the meet this weekend competing on both Friday, April 1, and Saturday, April 2.
“Today’s meet was great. A lot of the athletes got personal records in their events,” said Coach Ashley Conway. “They all went out to compete and kept the intensity high. I can’t wait to see what next week has in store for us.”
Starting for Waldorf University was junior Ovan Garcia, junior Aaron Ward, and senior Cody Clark running the 5,000-meter race. Ward ran a great race with a time of 16:29.73, and Garcia ran a time of 17:06.88. Followed closely behind them was Clark with a moving time of 17:09.58.
“Aaron, Ovan and Cody started the meet off for us in a very nice way with all three of them running to big personal records,” said Coach Corey Bins. “It really helps the confidence of the team when athletes can set a positive tone with their performances in the first event.”
Nathan Meiners showed up once again winning his heat of the men’s 10,000-meter run with a fast time of 33:53.79.
“Nathan did the same thing for us on day 2 with his winning effort in section 2 of the 10k despite harsh winds,” said Bins.
Everyone who competed in the field events did very well considering the weather factor of wind gusts up to 27 mph. Freshman Isaiah Craig high jumped 1.80-meters locating him in 21st place. For the long jump event, senior Caleb Gilbertson jumped 6.15-meters setting him in 22nd place out of 51 athletes. In the shot put event, freshman Demetrius Baker threw 12.31-meters.
“I was impressed with individuals in all of the event groups and looking forward to seeing us continue to improve as a team,” said coach Kelsey Riggins.
In the women’s long jump, senior Abigail Buehler jumped 4.72-meters placing her in 16th place out of 45 athletes. In the women’s shot-put event, freshman Auburn Miller threw an 11.43-meters which set her in 9th place out of 47 athletes. In the women’s javelin throw, junior Peyton Russell threw 34.08-meters to put her in 6th place out of 42 competitors.
“The team did a great job this weekend at the Washington University Invite,” said Riggins. “We had some very gutsy performances and it was great to really see the athletes get out and compete.”
In the men’s 800-meters event, freshman Mark Ahlers battled the harsh wind to finish in 2:04.03. For women’s 1500-meters, freshman Erica Fee ran a 5:30.53 placing her in 41st place out of 72 competitors.
“Erica ran, getting right to the front of the pack and putting herself in position to run a great time,” said Bins.
In some of the shorter races, freshman Alvyns Alcenord set a new record in the men’s 100-meter dash with a time of 11.16. Alcenord also ran the men’s 200-meter dash to place him in 30th out of 83 athletes with a time of 23.23. In the nen’s 400-meter dash, Gilbertson and junior Chasen Selsor both won their heats with a time of 53.54 and 55.39.
“There were 90 teams represented at the meet and it was one of the biggest stages the athletes will compete at all year,” said Riggins.
In men’s 4×400-meter relay, freshmen Jonah Remker and Ahlers and juniors Austin Anderson and Selsor set Waldorf University’s school record with a scorching time of 3:31.76.
“Chasen turned in his best meet of the indoor or outdoor season, running two consecutive personal bests first in the open 400 and then with running a great leg of the 4×400,” said Bins.