In a historic and hectic weekend, the John Carroll University Men’s and Women’s Track & Field Teams continued to capitalize on the success of the 2022 indoor season. 

The Blue Streaks sent athletes across the Northeastern United States, as they were represented in four meets over the weekend. 

Boston University Valentine Invitational

Not only breaking a John Carroll record, but an NCAA Division III record in the Distance Medley Relay, Ian Pierson ‘22, Garrett Clark ‘22, Caleb Correia ‘24 and Alex Phillip ‘23 shattered the previous record at the Boston University Valentine Invitational on Friday, Feb. 11.

The previous record of 9:46.95 was set by Middlebury College five years earlier to the day. John Carroll shattered their previous record from 2006 of 10:11.58 as they finished on Friday with a time of 9:41.56.

Pierson, Clark, Correia and Phillip each ran the race of their life against some of the best competition in the country and came out accomplishing a feat that will be hard to overcome in the future. 

“Going into the race we knew that this was going to be one of the fastest races in Division III history,” said Phillip. “After the race I think we were jumping around on the track for a solid 10 minutes, celebrating and taking in the moment. To accomplish something this great with your team is something special. It’s a day I’ll never forget.” 

Grand Valley State University Big Meet

The Blue and Gold sent eight distance runners to race in the GVSU Big Meet on Friday, Feb. 11 to compete against schools from across the nation. 

Transferring much of the success from the cross country season to this meet, the distance runners, consisting of Jamie Dailey ‘22, Barrett Scheatzle ‘25, graduate student Andrew Miner, Jared Arnold ‘22, Cameron Bujaucius ‘22, Sydney Jenko ‘23, Erica Esper ‘23 and Rory Vigrass ‘22, raced the 5k against athletes from all divisions. 

Dailey and Bujaucius’s times placed them in second place for school records as they finished 17:28.06 and 14:18.98, respectively. 

The rest of the runners earned personal records for their performances at this meet. 

“A lot of the team’s overall success is a result of commitment to our training and trusting our coaches and teammates,” said Bujaucius. “We have great leadership on this team, and when we run for each other and lift each other up, we are able to achieve things we may have not thought we could do. It is very exciting to see both ourselves and others achieve their goals and this program allows us to do that.”

Baldwin Wallace Mid-February Meet

The majority of the team competed in the Baldwin Wallace Mid-February Meet on Friday, Feb. 11 as they posted dominating performances against Ohio Athletic Conference opponents. 

Some of the highlights from the weekend include two first place finishes by Amanda Keim ‘24 and Ryan Kiley ‘23 in the 1000-meter, a first place finish by pole-vaulter Caroline Beery ‘23 and a first place finish from Mark Zahren’22 in the men’s 500-meter. 

DIII All-Ohio Championships

Traveling to Westerville, Ohio on Saturday, Feb. 12, the JCU Women’s Track and Field team placed seventh overall, while the JCU Men’s team held onto eighth place. 

Genevieve Arnold ‘25 achieved a personal record in the 60-meter hurdles to finish third overall in the event. 

Thrower Zach Szafarski ‘23 had a personal best in the weight throw event, placing him in third, as well as finishing in fifth place in shot put. 

“The most important thing we need to do going forward is just to continue what we’ve been doing,” said Phillip. “[Head Coach] Kyle Bastisa does a great job of making sure we don’t look too far ahead and take things one day at a time. We know how many talented athletes we have on this team and we know that if we keep working hard then we’ll find success at nationals too.”

The teams will once again split up on Saturday, Feb.19 as they compete in both the Greater Cleveland Colleges Invitational and at Kent State University. This will be both teams final meet before the OAC Indoor Track & Field Championships on Feb. 25 and Feb. 26