The American University track and field team completed a record-breaking performance at the Patriot League Championships at Boston University on March 1.
The Eagles took home two titles, with senior Carver Morgan winning his third consecutive conference 800 meter title — his second indoors — in a meet and program record time of 1:46:97.
Later on, freshmen Emmett Engelhardt and Gregory Celariste and seniors Kaden Kluth and Morgan triumphed in the distance medley relay, beating Boston University by .23 seconds on the line to take the title in a meet record of 9:49:59.
The win also marked Kluth’s second podium of the day, earning bronze in the mile with a time of 4:06:02.
Commenting on his podium finish, Kluth said he was pleased to have delivered a strong championship performance following a difficult indoor season disrupted by injury.
“It kept training a little inconsistent, which was frustrating, but I think it gave me a bit of a chip on my shoulder to come out and perform well at the championships,” he said.
Reflecting on the DMR victory, Kluth also highlighted the enjoyment of competing as part of a team and spoke proudly of his role as a mentor to younger members of the squad in his final season.
“I love the relay because it feels like I’m doing it for more than just myself,” Kluth said. “We had two freshmen on the team this year, so I really wanted to feel like I could do my job and get them the win in their first year, and that was a cool experience for everyone.”
Following the race, Morgan was named Patriot League Men’s Track Athlete of the Meet for his performances, becoming just the second Eagle ever to win the honor and the first since 2004.
He confessed that he had not expected the additional honour of being named athlete of the meet, but welcomed the surprise as a nice addition to his final Patriot League indoor championships.
Although pleased with his record-breaking performance, Morgan expressed his frustration at having narrowly missed out on a qualifying time for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
“It was nice to break 1:47 but I think of myself as an athlete that should be able to break 1:46.”
On managing his success with his disappointment, Morgan said he struggled to celebrate his achievements after failing to reach his expectations.
Looking towards the upcoming outdoor season, he said that the goal is to make it to nationals.
“To be under my outdoor PR indoors by a second gives me lots of confidence going into the season,” Morgan said.
There were several strong performances elsewhere on the track, with sophomore Daniel Messer running a nine-second PR in the 3k with a time of 8:18:36 to secure ninth place.
On the first day of the competition, Engelhardt ran a PR of 4:08:95 to finish 13th in the mile, while Celariste placed 20th in the 400 meter in a personal best and second American all-time mark of 50.14 seconds.
“I feel like I’m racing at a high level and I’m very happy,” Engelhart said about his championship performance and impressive debut season.
“It’s been great. I have great coaches and great teammates who have made the transition from high school to college pretty easy. The atmosphere here is really good.”
He also spoke of the difficulty of balancing excitement with nerves and realistic expectations at his maiden championships.
“As a freshman, I knew that not much was expected of me in terms of reaching the final in the mile. It was disappointing not to make it, but I knew that I could come back strongly on the second day and run a good leg in the DMR.”
He described that win as “a really special moment” and spoke of the unique opportunity the relay affords athletes to watch the team achieve victory together.
Celariste also competed in the 200 meter alongside junior Jason Omari-Anim, with both athletes running significant personal bests of 22.14 and 22.15 seconds, finishing 19th and 20th, respectively.
In the 5k, senior Cooper Michaud ran a huge 16-second PR of 14:20:86 for seventh, while Messer finished 14th in a 12-second PR of 14:45:16.
There was further success for the women’s section, with freshman Shealyn Brochu placing eighth in the mile final in a time of 4:51:11.
Speaking after the race, Brochu reflected on the emotional challenge of running in her first championship final.
“I tried to focus on my performance rather than on my time,” she said. “I was mainly excited, but obviously quite nervous as well. I think I was more stressed out for the prelims, but in the final I just tried to enjoy it.”
In the 3k, freshman Emma Colavito ran a seventh American all-time performance in her debut over the distance, finishing in 8:18:36 for ninth place. Also in that race, sophomore Zoe Rector recorded an eight-second PR of 10:12:09 to place 24th.
Meanwhile in the relays, the women’s DMR team of Langbaum, senior Kate Riley, Brochu, and freshman Charlotte Orr finished in ninth place with a sixth American all-time performance of 12:13:21.
In the women’s 4x4, sophomore Zoe Clark, senior Chloee Dotts, junior Ciera Thacker and Gin finished 10th with a time of 3:57:24, marking the third-fastest performance in program history.
There was also success in the individual sprints, as freshman Lilia Jones upheld her record-breaking form in the 60 meter, finishing 10th with a time of 7.68 seconds to improve her #2 mark on American’s all-time list.
She also competed in the 200 meter, where she ran a personal best of 25.93 seconds to move up to seventh all-time at American.
Speaking afterwards, Jones said that she was nervous throughout her first championships but was happy to PR in both races.
Looking ahead, she said “I am more confident for outdoors because I know I did so well indoors, so I’m just waiting to see how I’m going to do.”
“Overall, the championships were amazing,” said Head coach Sean Graham on his team’s landmark performance.
“We had a really tough winter, not having access to the track due to six inches of snow is a very challenging position to be in when we’re trying to compete for championships, but the team did remarkably well managing that.”
Graham was optimistic about the upcoming transition into the outdoor season, and said that outdoors is where the team typically performs best.
He explained that the team treats the outdoor season as a continuation of the indoor season to keep momentum and manage progress.
“I can’t explain how proud I am,” Graham said of the standout achievements of medallists Morgan and Kluth. “They have set themselves up very well, and my goal for them is to keep doing the things we’re doing well and keep raising the bar.”
This article was edited by Connor Sturniolo, Jack Stashower and Walker Whalen. Copy editing done by Avery Grossman, Mattie Lupo and Nicole Kariuki.
