Roanoke Excels In Day One Of Championships

action photo of RC track distance runners
Day One of ODAC Championships

The Basics:

Event: ODAC Championships Day 1

Location: University of Lynchburg

The Lead: Roanoke College outdoor track & field team traveled to the University of Lynchburg to compete in Day one of the ODAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Men's Highlights:

  •  Cooper Neeble lead the charge for the men's team, winning the conference title in the Men's 3,000m Steeple Chase. His time of 9:34.42 is a PR and currently puts him 24th nationally.
  •  In the 10k, Peter Smith lead the way with a fourth-place finish crossing the line with a personal record time of 32:27.51. Chamberlain Zulauf would also set a personal record with a time of 33:38.73, finishing 7th overall.
  • In the sprints, Sam Crawford led the way for the men's team. He posted the top time in the prelims with a blazing time of 21.88 seconds and followed it up with the second-best time in the 400m dash going 48.66 seconds. Blake Morin also had a career day qualifying for the finals in the 100m dash with a time of 11.16 seconds and followed that performance up with the third-best time in the 200m with a PR of 21.94 seconds. 
  • In the hurdles, Aaron Rogers qualified in the 400MH with a personal best time of 58.64. Greyson Cornett also qualified in the 110MH with a personal best time of 16.17 seconds.  

Women's Highlights:

  • Caitlin Culhane lead the lady Maroons on Day one of the ODAC Championships with a first place finish in the Hammer Throw.  Her distance of 41.90m is a new personal record which set the tone early for the Maroons throwers.  Freshmen Grace Fowler would finish second in the Women's Shot put with a season best distance of 11.12m. Fowler would also post a top five finish in the Women's hammer throwing 37.72m followed by Abbey Gajtkowski's sixth place finish going 37.32m.
  • In the jumps, Hannah Koepfinger and Claire Trotto would lead the way with fifth place finishes.  In the Women's Pole Vault Trotto finished fifth with a clearance of 3.21m. Chloe Van Duyne was behind her finishing seventh at 3.06m. Koepfinger finished with a PR with a distance of 5.22m in the Women's Long Jump.  Koepfinger would also be the top qualifier in the Women's 400mh with a time of 1:05.32 and qualified in the 100mh with a time of 15.91 seconds. Savannah Gheen would finish sixth in the Women's Long jump with a distance 5.08m. Gheen would later post a qualifying time in the 100m dash crossing the line at 12.99 seconds. Katelyn Wiley would round out the top nine in the Women's Long Jump with a personal record of 5.04m. She would also post a season best time in the 100mh with a time of 16.89 seconds. 
  • In the sprints, the Women's 400m dash would be the evening's highlight as four Maroons qualify for Sunday's final. Freshmen Mikayla Hefferon would post the top qualifying time setting a personal record of 58.95 seconds. Emily Ball posted the third-fastest time going 59.42, followed by Haylee Gamble's personal record time of 1:00.3, and Lily Lippert at 1:01.58. Gamble would also set a personal record in the Women's 200m dash with a time of 25.92. Freshmen Taylor Poole set two personal records qualifying in the women's 100m dash with a time of 12.79 seconds. She would later come back and run 26.22 seconds in the Women's 200m dash.

Up Next: Roanoke travels to back to Lynchburg, VA for Day 2 of the ODAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships.