On April 10th, 2021 The Illinois Track Club hit the road once again. This time around the team traveled about 3 and a half hours to Fort Wayne, IN to compete in the Warrior Opener hosted by Indiana Tech University. This meet provided the team with a chance at some elite competition from a range of divisions and conferences throughout the area. The team not only had to deal with the fierceness of the competition but also Mother Nature as steady rain lingered throughout most of the meet.
Track Events:
The meet got off to a quick start as athletes and coaches were eager to beat the incoming rain. As a team, we kicked things off with the 5000m run. We had two athletes compete in separate sections. Brisa McGrath competed in the earlier section and started the day off for the orange and blue by taking home first in her heat, dropping a time of 19:11.57. Later in the day Grace Gudwien also took on the 12.5 laps and ran a 19:19.54, this was an improvement from her first try at the event at Millikin a few weeks prior.
As the rain still held off our team got a rare chance to run several 4x800m relays. On the women’s side, the team consisting of Mikeelie Jensen, Wilma Rishko, Maggie Abbs, and Annie Brunton ran a 10:29.10, placing top 10 overall in the event. The men looked to have success of their own in the event and that they did. The men’s team consisting of Norb Nieves, Jason Palafox, Cade Baker, and Jacob Rubin also produced a top 10 finish, while running a quick time of 9:16.87.
The 3000m steeplechase combines distance, hurdles, and the elements. None of those things seemed to impact Nikita Smyrnov. He stole the show, ran a 10:05.55, and was the event champion.
In the 400m dash, we let the competition know we did not come to play. On the women’s side, Katherine Vande Pol was the first to the finish for the Illini running a time of 1:00.03, inches away from breaking the 1-minute barrier. Rachel Sakwa was the next to cross the tape running a time of 1:07.18. Rounding out the event for the ladies was the strong Annie Brunton running a time of 1:09.74. The men’s duo of veterans Andy Marszewski and Mason Rosenberg held their own. Sprints coach Andy Marszewski ran a time of 51.12 placing him within the top 15 overall. Mason Rosenberg continued his comeback season by running a 53.92.
Keeping on with the sprints theme, we move on to the 100m dash final, which was originally scheduled to be a prelim but to beat the rain was changed to a final. We had two core members of the sprint squad kick things off for us in the 100. Webmaster Jalen Frazier ran a time of 11.23 placing him just outside of the top 20. Sprints coach Andy Marszewski had yet another outstanding performance on the track running an 11.67, concluding a short day for him at the track.
The distance squad graced the track yet again for the 1500m run. On the women’s side, we had 5 ladies compete and placed quite well. The first runner to finish this go-round was Clare Oehler-O’Sullivan running an elite time of 5:28.43. Coming up right behind her was Mikeelie Jensen keeping things neck and neck here by running a 5:29.03, smashing the 5:30 threshold. Our next finisher was the talented Wilma Rishko running a time of 5:37.50. Right behind her was Angela Wu finishing in the top 40 in a fast 5:46.53. Rounding us out for the ladies was Lauren Bartels running a time of 5:59.17, breaking sub 6 minutes. On the men’s side, we had two very strong competitors. Nikita Smyron continued his successes from the steeple earlier running a time of 4:14.08 placing just outside of the top 10. Norb Nieves recovered from the 4x800m relay and dropped a 4:28.33 solo.
Shortening things up again we have the 800m dash. We had 2 entries on both the men’s and women’s divisions. Maggie Abbs was our first finisher in the event, placing 22nd overall and running a 2:32.57. Annie Brunton was the next up and she ran a 2:42.02 making it look effortless. On the men’s side, phenom Jaden Thompson kicked off his freshman campaign running a 1:56.58 and took 4th overall in the process. Jeffrey Hesselbein left his mark on the track by running a 2:02.32 in the event, claiming a top 25 finish.
Amid the ongoing rain came the 200m dash. Katherine Vande Pol had no issue managing the rain and ran 28.07. Rachel Sakwa also took the time to shine even on a cloudy day by running a 30.16. On the men’s side, they also had two competitors in the field. After a good showing earlier Webmaster, Jalen Frazier ran a 23.21. Mason Rosenberg also made his way back to the track and dropped a 25.08 capping off a rainy day in Indiana.
Official Results: https://www.tfrrs.org/results/68104/Warrior_Opener/
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