The Boston University men’s and women’s track and field teams competed in the Patriot League Indoor Championships this weekend on the campus of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
Both the men’s and women’s teams finished second overall,
The top three overall teams were identical in both the men’s and women’s divisions. The Terriers finished second, behind Navy and ahead of the United States Military Academy.
“Today was a beautiful day of camaraderie,” said Gabe Sanders, the director of track and field and cross country. “It was a beautiful day of competition. It was a beautiful day of compassion and love for one another. Proud is an understatement of mine of this program and the work that we’ve done.”
Here are some of the major headlines from the weekend in Maryland.
The Next Chapter In The Record Book
In the 400-meter race, BU set meet and facility records in both the men’s and women’s competitions.
For the men’s team, freshman Logan Popelka ran the race in 46.87 seconds. He also won second place in the 200-meter competition and was named rookie of the meet.
Sanders had high praise for the sprinter.
“He’s a name you’re gonna hear about for years to come,” Sanders said.
For the women’s team, graduate student sprinter Emma Montoya’s 53.52 400-meter dash time also put her in the meet and facility record book.
Montoya was joined by senior sprinter Noelani Phillips on the podium. Phillips, who finished second in the race, recorded a time of 55.24 seconds.
Terriers Jumping for Joy
Both the high jump and the long jump competitions proved pivotal in BU’s success over the weekend.
Graduate student jumper Kasim Cisse took first place in the high jump. Cisse tied his personal record and jumped 2.08 meters.
Sophomore Asia Hamilton took home first place for the women’s team in the high jump. She jumped 1.73 meters en route to first place.
Down The Home Stretch
Freshman sprinter and jumper Jada Smith and junior sprinter Dakota Jackson won first place in the women’s and men’s 60 meters, respectively.
In her first Patriot League Championship meet, Smith ran the 60-meter dash in 7.54 seconds.
Over on the men’s side, Jackson took home gold by running a 6.80-second sprint. The Oklahoma native was joined on the podium by sophomore sprinter Leon Christian. Christian finished second in the dash with a time of 6.85 seconds.
The Long Game
In addition to the victories in the sprints, the Terriers also succeeded in distance running.
Senior distance runner Foster Malleck finished second in the one mile. Freshman distance runner Parker Schneider joined Malleck by finishing fourth. Their times were 4:08.24 and 4:12.26, respectively.
Distance runners sophomore Daisy Liljegren and graduate student Veronica Kriss continued BU dominance in long-distance competitions. They finished third and fifth in the women’s 3000-meter race, respectively.
It’s A Team Effort
With Phillips, Smith, Montoya and junior sprinter Isabela Shepard on the squad, the women’s 4x400m team won first place. The team ran the race in 3:44.22, beating out Army by less than eight-tenths of a second.
The BU men’s relay team finished second in the 4×800. Malleck, Schneider, senior distance runner Marcel Aubry and graduate student distance runner Aksel Laudon completed the 800 meters with a time of 7:30.41. First-place Army had a time of 7:29.71.
The men’s distance medley relay and 4×400 teams would also win second and third in their races, respectively.
Both the men’s and women’s teams will finish out the indoor season with the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico on March 10 and 11 before beginning the outdoor season at the Raleigh Relays on the campus of North Carolina State University on March 23 and 25.
