Elmhurst, Ill.— It was a busy weekend for the Illinois Tech Track and Field team at the Chicagoland Championships hosted by Elmhurst University. The throwing events competed Thursday at Wheaton College, followed by running events at Elmhurst on Friday and Saturday. The Scarlet Hawks faced strong competition from the best of the Chicagoland area but used the pressure as an opportunity to lay down some strong performances.
In the high jump, Olivia Jameson recorded the top mark in all of Division III this season, jumping a personal best 1.73 meters. She outlasted the other competition at the meet by 9 centimeters, jumping on her own for three successive heights after the second-place competitor missed the mark. It's lonely at the top!
Over on the track, quite a few Scarlet Hawks set personal bests and/or school records.
Amelia Moseman lowered her school record in the 400m dash with a time of 57.65, the leading time in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference and good for #26 in Division III so far this season.
Apparently, the tie goes to the runner in track as well. Zoe Turner ran 26.38 in the 200-meter dash to tie her previous school record, and the women's 4x400 meter team of Turner, Amelia Moseman, Rachel Brettin, and Isabelle Pullen ran 3:10.30 tying the record of a similar team from 2023. In a sport where the hundredth of a second means everything, tying two school records is practically unheard of.
On the men's side, Ajibola Claudius-Akinyemi improved on the school record he set last weekend in the 200-meter-dash, running a time of 22.17. Peter Mayer dropped a 22.99 in his first outdoor attempt at the same race, good for 3rd all-time on the Illinois Tech Men's record book. Andrew Farber competed in the 3000-meter Steeplechase on Friday, running 10:37.46 for 2nd all-time Illinois Tech.
From head coach Tyler McQuality: "It's always such a great experience cor our team to compete at the Chicagoland Championships to see where we stack up against the best the city has to offer. We're weeks away from our goal meet of the season and we're in a great spot with a lot of exciting weeks ahead!"
Sprints coach Brendan Batliner (who put on a masterclass 800-meter performance himself) saw a few weeks of tough workouts payoff at this meet: "Great showing from our Hawks putting in work in their 200m races today. An improved school record from AJ (Claudius-Akinyemi) and a tied school record from Zoe, with a host of PRs close behind, establish momentum and excitement for the rest of the season!"
