Both the men’s and women’s track and field teams competed last Saturday at the Bison Invitational meet. Sophomore Josh Syrotchen and Senior Kristen Celsor helped the Bisons by setting NCAA provisional marks in their respective events.
Sophomore Jacob McDonald set a new school record in the hammer throw, and freshman Josh Syrotchen recorded an NCAA provisional mark in the discus. McDonald broke his own personal record with a throw of 156 feet, 10 inches. Syrotchen won the discus with a throw of 164 feet, the fifth-best throw in NCAA DII this season, and only 4 inches short of Harding’s record of 164 feet, 4 inches set in 1997.
Syrotchen said he hopes to throw better in the team’s next meet. He is still recovering from a broken thumb, which he said hampered his overall performance. Having not thrown since high school, Syrotchen is trying to focus on setting a training routine for himself and getting stronger.
“I’m trying to find my rhythm,” Syrotchen said. “This meet was a good practice run.”
The Bisons also won four other field events. Freshman Trey Adkison won the pole vault, freshman Andrew Dather won the long jump, junior Ryan Cagle won the shot put and freshman Max McBride won the javelin.
Junior track runner Donatella Luckett won both the 100- and 200- meter dashes last Saturday.
Luckett ran 11.04 in the 100-meters, and 23.04 in the 200-meters. His teammate senior, Landon Belcherm, won the 400-meter dash in 49.45 seconds.
Freshman Lucas Goodspeed won the 800-meters in 1 minute, 57.24 seconds, junior Taylor Lively won the 1,500-meters in 4 minutes, 02.70 seconds and senior Andrew Evans won the 5,000-meters in 15:17.65 to wrap up the distance runs. Sophomore Stephen Hedlund won the 400-meter hurdles in 55.70 seconds. Harding’s teams also won both relays. Sophomore Corey Bassett, sophomore Kevin Naceanceno, junior Dillon Bagwell and Luckett won the 4×100 meters in 43.00 seconds. Naceanceno, Trevor Holloway, Bagwell, and Belcher won the 4×400 relay in 3 minutes, 20.52 seconds.
The Lady Bisons also had success last Saturday as junior Ewa Zaborowska, Celsor and sophomore Rachael Domeyer achieved NCAA provisional marks to highlight the Lady Bisons’ performances. Celsor cleared 5 feet, 6 inches to tie the seventh-best height in NCAA DII. Zaborowska won the 800 meters in 2 minutes, 12.25 seconds, securing the fourth-fastest time this season in NCAA DII. Domeyer broke the school-record in the javelin with a throw of 132 feet, 4 inches, which ranks 15th in NCAA DII this season.
Other notable events for the Lady Bisons came in the sprint and distance competitions.
Sophomore Shana Holmes won the 200-meters with a time of 25.91 seconds. Junior Dallis Bailey won the 1,500-meters in 4 minutes, 55.95 seconds and sophomore Kelsey Taylor won the 5,000-meters in 18 minutes, 45.46 seconds. Sophomore Sarah Coleman won the long jump with 14 feet, 2.5 inches.
The Lady Bisons also won both relay events. Holmes, Coleman, freshman Rachael Price and Celsor won the 4×100 meters in 49.53 seconds. Sophomore Tammy Kim, Holmes, Zaborowska and Celsor won the 4×400 in 3 minutes, 58.63 seconds.
Coleman said she has greatly benefited from the relationships she has formed with her fellow 4×100 relay runners, all of whom were a part of the same event last season.
“Our 4×100 team is special,” Coleman said. “We love working together, and getting to share a relay allows for friendships to form that may not have existed before.”
Coleman also emphasized how special the home meet is to the men and women’s track teams. Friends and family who cannot travel to other meets are able to come and show their support for what many competitors, like Coleman, train for all year.
The next meet for the men’s team is April 5 in Oxford, Miss. at the Ole Miss Invitational. The women’s next meet is also April 5 at home for the Harding Invitational.
