Track records are not broken every day, but senior distance runner Katie Matthews and junior sprinter R.J. Page both set Boston University marks on Saturday at the Terrier Invitational indoor track meet.
Matthews, who made it to USA Nationals last year, finished Saturday’s 5000-meter race with a time of 15:52.80. This time topped previous record holder Andrea Walkonen’s time of 16:03.04 by over ten seconds.
The Terrier Invitational has been good to Matthews, as she set her personal best by over a minute at the 5000-meter race last season at the same meet. BU coach Bruce Lehane identified that race as a turning point for her.
“She went from a reasonably good conference-level runner to a national-class runner in one swoop. That was kind of shocking,” Lehane said. “A lot of times people get to the top, but it is equally difficult to stay there and improve from that level again. She has been able to do that as well.”
While Matthews stole the show for the women’s team, Page was the most impressive on the men’s side. Page finished the 200-meter dash in 21:34 seconds, which topped Thorb Towles’ record from 24 years ago of 21.41 seconds.
Injury issues had plagued Page early in his college career, but ever since his outdoor track season last year in which he received the America East Most Outstanding Performer and Coach’s Award, he has shown he can be a top runner for the team.
“[Page] flew a really strong time, so we are looking forward to seeing him do better stuff in the future,” Lehane said.
The Terrier Invitational was a success for both men’s and women’s track, as both squads featured strong performances. For women’s track senior sprinter Shelby Walton stood out, winning both the 60-meter dash and the 200-meter dash with times of 7.66 seconds and 24.32 seconds, respectively.
With the Terrier Invitational out of the way, BU track will move onto its next meet at the Battle of Beantown across the river in Cambridge, as it will look to build toward late-season success.
“It is a regular season kind of game versus the playoffs,” Lehane said. “We kind of use [the Battle of Beantown] as something to move toward our higher goals later in the season.”
Wrestling
BU’s wrestling team was coming off a performance at Colonial Athletic Association Duals in which they lost to three of its four opponents. The Terriers, however, bounced back quickly, defeating both Duke University and Bridgewater State University at home on Saturday.
The Terriers (11-4, 1-3 CAA) were able to top Duke (1-7, 0-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) thanks to strong performances by senior Fred Santaite (133) and sophomore Nick Tourville (157), who each had a two pins on the day.
Santaite, who finished third at CAA championships last year, has a perfect 10-0 record on the season.
Duke’s matchup was a lot tougher for BU than Bridgewater State (5-13) was according to the scores, as the Terriers went a perfect 37-0 against the Bears before forfeiting their final two matches, making for a final score of 37-12
BU will face Princeton University at home on Friday before hosting conference-opponent Drexel University on Saturday.
Tennis
The BU men’s and women’s tennis teams opened their 2012 seasons in very different fashions over the weekend. Brown University swept men’s tennis 7-0 on Saturday at Brown, whilethe women swept the United States Military Academy at West Point 7-0 on Sunday at BU’s Track and Tennis Center.
Sophomore Leonie-Charlotte Athanasiadis, an America East All-Conference First Team selection from last season, won her singles matchup over Army’s top singles player junior Erin Colton 6-1, 6-2. No Terrier lost a set throughout the meet, as the most games an Army player won on a Terrier in a set was four.
The men’s team did not have the same kind of success as its women’s team did, as it failed to win a set against Brown throughout the entire meet. The closest Terrier to win a set was junior Alex Hallenbeck, who lost in a tiebreaker in the second set to Brown junior Timmy Klanke 11-9.
Both teams will be back in action on Saturday, with the men’s team facing Fairfield University and the women’s team battling the University of Buffalo.
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