The SVSU track and field team had a successful opening that included eight first-place finishes at the SVSU Holiday Classic.
The meets took place on Friday, Dec 1, and Saturday, Dec 2.
The women had a solid showing throughout the event. Strong individual performances by the women included Jenna Keiser, who placed second in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:22.25. Sydney Kreger won the mile run in 5:15.03. Darby Meinecke won the 3,000-meter run with a time of 10:40.26, followed up by fellow Cardinals Rebecca Estep and Carissa Martin in second and third. Allison Dorr took second in the 5,000-meter, run with a time of 17:34.84.
The women’s relay teams had a good day as well. In the 4×400 meter the team of Morgan Fuerst, Jukaila Hill, Takia Bradley and Lauren Huebner took third with a time of 4:04.26.
Lauren Huebner had a solid day, taking first in the 800-meter run indoor pentathlon, third in the 60-meter hurdles indoor pentathlon and third in the long jump. Huebner ended up taking third overall in the pentathlon.
The men also had a strong performance in the meet, led by junior runner Parker Eisengruber. Eisengruber took first place in the mile with a time of 4:13.05. He was happy with his performance, especially coming off training from a long cross-country season.
“It has been a long season, and this is a race that we run basically off of cross country training, so I was happy with my performance,” he said. “I’m excited to take my break from running for a few days and get into track training after.”
The entire team had an impressive showing, which is especially notable for an event occurring this early in the season. In the men’s 60-meter, dash Jullane Walker took first with a time of 6.83, followed by teammate Juan Bowers with a time of 6.87. In the 400-meter dash, Carter Eckhardt had a time of 48.81, which was good for first place in the event. In the 5,000-meter run, Nate Frasier placed first with a time of 14:43.31.
The men’s 4×400 relay team of Eckhardt, Keith Rodriguez, Bowers and Jordan Walters took first with a time of 3:20.15. Noah VanderVeeen took first in the high jump with a height of 2.02m. In the shot put, Ryan Kelly took second with a final throwing distance of 16.83m.
Sophomore Sam Black had a dominating performance in the heptathlon, taking first place overall.
“The team looked good today,” Eisengruber said. “People ran fast times for this early in the season, and we even had some people hit national provisional qualifying marks.”
The team will compete next at another home meet, the SVSU Classic, on Jan. 12.
