Men's Track & Field Captures 2010 UAA Indoor Championship
Waltham, Mass., March 6, 2010 – The Washington University in St. Louis men’s indoor track and field team captured the 2010 University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship as the conference meet drew to a close on Saturday, March 6, in Waltham, Mass. The WUSTL women’s team placed third out of seven competitors.
It marks the 10th time in school history the Bears’ men’s indoor track and field team has won the UAA indoor championship and the first since 2007. The women’s squad last won the indoor UAA title in 2009. The men’s team tallied a team score of 125 points, while the University of Chicago was second with 98 points. On the women’s side, the University of Chicago won the team championship with a score of 146, with the Bears tallying 76 team points.
The two teams combined to win five UAA titles during Saturday’s action, three for the men and two for the women. Junior Ben Harmon, graduate student Pierre Hoppenot and sophomore Dan Davis each picked up first-place finishes for the WU men, while sophomore Liz Phillips and junior Sangeeta Hardy represented the women’s UAA champions.
Harmon claimed his third UAA title of the meet with a first-place finish in the pole vault. He cleared a personal-record 4.55 meters in the win, which marked the first time in his career he was won the UAA indoor pole vault championship.
Davis, who has automatically qualified for the 2010 NCAA Indoor Championships in the 55-hurdles, added the UAA crown to his expanding list of achievements. He ran a time of 7.61 in the finals, which fell just 0.01 shy of tying the UAA record.
Hoppenot won the 200-meter dash and was the runner-up in the 55-meter dash and the 4x400-meter relay. Hoppenot’s time of 22.51 in the 200-meter final was good for first-place overall, and he ran the 55-meter in 6.59, which tied his season-best performance and improved on his third-place finish in the event at last year’s UAA indoor meet.
Hoppenot, Davis and Harmon teamed with senior Chris Malaya to grab the runner-up position in the 4x400-meter relay, posting a time of 3:23.78.
Phillips repeated as the UAA indoor mile champion, and she did so in record-setting fashion. Her winning time of 4:55.32 was both a personal and UAA championship record, and it was 0.32 shy of meeting provisional NCAA Indoor Championship standards.
Hardy’s victory in the 800-meter run marked the first individual UAA title of her career. Her time of 2:15.23 marked a personal best, while also meeting NCAA provisional standards and heading into Saturday it ranks as the 11th fastest time posted in Division III this season.
Sophomore Erica Jackey also eclipsed the NCAA ‘B’ standard in the 800-meter, placing second with a time of 2:15.74. Additionally, Jackey earned all-UAA honors in the 4x400-meter dash, where she teamed with senior Allison Lee, junior Kelli Blake and sophomore Elisabeth Stocking to turn in a time of 4:03.48.
The Bears had three other student-athletes earn All-UAA accolades on Saturday. Junior Scott Pettit was the runner-up in the pole vault, clearing 4.40 meters, and junior Dave Spandorfer placed second in the men’s 3,000-meter final with a time of 8:38.15. For the WU women, junior Jessica Londeree finished third in the 3,000, crossing the finish line in 10:20.73.
Washington University will learn which of its student-athletes qualified for the 2010 NCAA Division III Indoor Championships when the NCAA releases the official psych sheets on Sunday, March 7.
This year’s NCAA indoor championship meet is hosted by DePauw University and will be held Friday-Saturday. March 12-13, in Greencastle, Ind.