After a two-year hiatus, Track & Field action returns to the Cregger Center this Saturday for the start of the 2022 ODAC Indoor Championships. Two years ago, Washington and Lee won the Men's title while the University of Lynchburg won on the Women's side.
WOMEN'S PREVIEW
A number of Maroons will be competing for conference honors. Sophomore Mikayla Hefferon, the 2021 Outdoor Champion in the 400m dash is comes into the meet ranked first overall and looks to add another 400m title to her young career. Also ranked in the short events is Eleanor Hinckley; the freshmen will compete in the 60, 200, and her field specialty, the high jump. The Roanoke contingent in the pole vault should score many points. Lead by junior Chloe Van Duyne the pole vault should be exciting as four athletes are tied coming in the meet with top mark in the conference including Duyne.
The 20-pound Weight Throw should also prove to be a good point producer for the Maroons. Senior Grace Fowler has thrown over to 47' and is ranked 3rd coming into the championships. Next to her is Freshmen Elisabeth Cullen who has thrown 46' 3.25". The maroons have at least four athletes in the top 12 spots in both the weight throw and shot put. Hannah Snodgrass is ranked 2nd in the 60 hurdles after her school record performance in last weekend's meet at Virginia Tech. Hannah Koepfinger comes into the meet ranked 5th in the 60mh, and 3rd in the long jump in hopes to produce big points for the lady maroons. Kaitlyn Nguyen looks to be a factor in the high jump as she is in a four-way tie for 2nd place coming into the meet.
The women's 4 X 400 relay team is the third seed in an event that has been dominated by the Maroons in previous years. The ODAC All Time record (3:56, 2014) and the ODAC Championship record (3:59, 2013) were set by Roanoke squads who advanced to the NCAA's and earned All American honors.
MEN'S PREVIEW
The Maroons feature several guys who could place in their events. School record holder and Senior Xavier O'Brien is among the ODAC best in his specialty, the 60 hurdles. Sophomore Sam Crawford, comes in as the top ranked 400m runner upon his school record time of 50.51. He looks to solidify his top ranking with a conference championship. He is also ranked 7th in the 200m dash and could challenge for major points in the 200. Freshmen Brady Fowler is one of the best short sprinters in the conference with a school record time in the 60m dash of 6.99 seconds. He is currently ranked 4th in the event and 8th in the 200m dash as well.
In the distance events, Senior's Chamberlain Zulauf (ranked 9th, 5000) and Peter Smith (ranked 10th, 5000) will double in the long races. In the field events the high jump hopes to produce big points as the maroons have four athletes in the top 9 lead by Junior Hunter Bohon. The men's 4 X 400 relay quartet should also compete for points, currently ranked 3rd in the league at 3:30.85.
