Naperville, Ill. — Friday was just another day in the office for the Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks as they took to the track at the F. Lee Slick Invitational hosted by North Central College. Laps were run, weights were thrown, and record books were updated, all before the weekend arrived.
Senior Ajibola Claudius-Akinyemi flew through 200 meters in a time of 22.72, not only setting a personal best but also tying the current school record held by teammate Julius Wardlow. The time was enough for 5th place in a field of 70 competitors. In the mile, 3 out of 5 Scarlet Hawks ran personal bests including Senior Joey Loriso with a speedy 4:27.88, merely .86 seconds off the school record.
On the women's side, junior Rachel Brettin ran a personal best time through 800 meters, 2:27.08, which has her tied for 3rd overall in the Illinois Tech record books. Sprinter Zoe Turner ran a season best time of 1:02.22 in the 400-meter dash, winning her heat outright. Turner and Brettin placed 5th and 6th overall in their events, respectively.
When asked, head coach Tyler McQuality and assistant coach Brendan Batliner expressed similar sentiments about the pen-ultimate meet of the indoor season. Said McQuality, "This meet was exactly what we needed heading into conference next week. We have been slowly putting the pieces of the puzzle together and I could not be more excited to see how we all come together next week to give our best collective performances!" Batliner echoed, saying, "Though our sprint races are short, our training is more like a marathon, and our Hawks' persistence in practice and recovery is paying off as we head into our indoor conference championship."
In the field, jumps coach Sai Valluri had positive comments as well. "Great performances from the team as we approach indoor conference. The jumpers have been perfecting their drills and building strength, and they're just weeks away from everything falling into place, setting the stage for some impressive leaps ahead."
Other Notable Performances
Women's
60 meters – Clara Pargett- 8.87 (Personal Record, #10 on women's indoor record book)
200 meters – Annaelle Mukash- 28.01 (PR #5)
Long Jump – Bella Ortiz- 4.24m (PR, #10)
Triple Jump – Bella Ortiz- 9.51m (PR, #4), Sona Perry- 9.03m (PR, #5)
Men's
200 meters – Ajibola Claudius-Akinyemi- 22.72 (PR, Tied #1)
1600 meters – Joey Loriso- 4:27.88 (PR, #2)
Up Next
As alluded to in the coaches' comments, the Hawks will be heading to Kenosha, WI next weekend for the NACC indoor track and field championships. The two-day meet will kick off on Friday at 9:00 with the Pentathlon and the Heptathlon events. Prelims for the 60m dash and 60m hurdles, along with the 5000-meter run and the distance medley relay (DMR) will be run on Friday, with the rest of the running events commencing on Saturday. In the field, pole vault, weight throw, and triple jump will compete on Friday, long jump, shot put and high jump will compete on Saturday.
