Junior Kinnari Badger won the 100-meter dash at the Maryland Invitational March 28, setting a new AU school record in the process. Junior Joshua Ellis and senior Tom Woermer recorded IC4A-qualifying times in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and the 10,000-meter race respectively at the Raleigh Relays on March 27.
Badger ran a time of 12.64, breaking the previous school record held by Chanel Spriggs by 0.01 seconds. Spriggs’s record dated back to the 2002 season when she ran a time of 12.65 seconds.
Ellis earned an IC4A-qualifying time by winning the 3000-meter steeplechase in a time of 9:04.28, barely edging out sophomore Joseph Keitt of Coastal Carolina. The time was a personal best for Ellis, whose time in the steeplechase is already the second-best in AU school history.
Woermer placed well in a competitive and fast 10,000-meter field, recording a time of 30:38.31. Woermer’s time was a personal best and moved him into seventh place all-time at AU while also qualifying by IC4A standards.
The Intercollegiate Association of Ametur Athletes of America (IC4A), is an annual division I men’s track and field competition held annually. Teams eligible to qualify for the IC4A are colleges or universities in New England and mid-Atlantic States, with the region spreading as far south as North Carolina and as far west as West Virginia. The women’s counterpart to the IC4A is the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division I Championships.
AU also had strong performances by sophomore Corina Velazco and freshman Jillian O’Donohoe in the 3,000-meter run at the Maryland meet. Velazco won the event in a time of 10:21.57, seventh-best in AU history, while O’Donohoe finished in eighth.
Junior Kelseagh Budris placed fourth in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:24.30. Freshman Brianna Belo placed eighth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.69 seconds, which is ranks second on AU’s all-time outdoor list.
For the men at Maryland, sophomore Brendan Johnson placed second in the 3,000-meter dash with a time of 8:42:76 while teammate freshman Sam Daud placed fourth. Freshman Jim Belfatto placed fifth in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:03.86.
vsalandro@theeagleonline.com
