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Records fall as track and field team sets the tone for the season
The Advocate
A school record fell and both Saints' 4x100-meter relay teams snagged the gold as MHCC opened its season at Saturday's "ice breaker" meet.
Records are meant to be broken and MHCC freshman thrower Tyler Callahan from Estacada High School wasted no time in breaking the school javelin record at the Eric Anderson Icebreaker meet at Linfield College almost immediately after it had begun.
Callahan record throw was 212 ft. 8 in, good enough to also win the event.
The entire MHCC track and field team had a good showing Saturday with numerous first-place finishes.
"I thought we competed well," said head coach Matt Hart. "Both relays (4x100-meter relay) did really well."
The men's team finished the relay with a time of 42.55, led by sophomores Chris Zeller and Zach Young, along with freshmen Justin Oliveri and Robert Hanke.
The women finished with a time of 50.17. The relay team consisted of freshmen Erica Drake, Amy Kegler, Whitney Sewnson and Mariah Crumpler.
Zeller, last year's NWAACC 400-meter champion, was pleased with both his and his team's performance, even though he only competed on the 4x100-meter team at the meet,
"I only got to compete in the 4x100 due to injury. We (the 4x100-meter team) did great for having two new people on the team," he said, with Young as the only other returner.
"I was really happy about the performance," Zeller said, "We definitely scored where we needed to score. We had a lot of people scratch."
Drake, who placed third in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.06, had a similar response, "I think we did really well for the first meet," she said, "I'm excited for the rest of the season."
Competition for the meet included community colleges, some high school athletes and four-year universities, including Oregon State University, University of Portland Pilots and Portland State University.
Though some individuals like Callahan, Young and Drake managed to do well, injury reduced the Saint's potential as numerous athletes had to scratch out of their events,
"We're kind of beat up," said Hart, mentioning shin splints as one of the ailments athletes had to deal with. He said the situation can be remedied with a better warm-up and better cool-down after an event.
Other standout performances were Young's first-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles (55.42), Swenson's second-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles (16.00), Oliveri's third-place finish in the 100-meter dash (11.37) and Hanke's second-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles (56.98).
Conditions for the meet were also ideal. "Beautiful. It was perfect," said Hart on the weather, something he says is an oddity given the more common climate for the early March event.
"It's called the icebreaker for two reasons," said Hart, one being that it's a meet to "break the ice" of initial competitive hesitation and secondly, because of the cold.
Hart said he was confident about his team's potential, "Once we get acclimated to the competition, we'll be fine," he said.
The team will compete Saturday in the Pacific Preview in Forest Grove at Lincoln Park Stadium, home of Pacific University.
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