By Julius Lujano ‘22

The Brother Rice Track and Field team competed at Lewis University the past weekend in the ICOPS Invitational. With 22 schools attending the meet, the Crusaders placed 5th overall with many great performances.

Senior captains Sean McNally and Jack Antonsen set new personal bests in the 800m run. Sophomore Robbie Rutledge also ran a personal best in the 800m run.

In the long-distance runs, freshman Gavin O’Connor ran a gigantesque personal best of 10:50 in the 3200m. This performance places Gavin as the  7th best  all-time freshman for the indoor event. Freshman Brian Sheehan also ran 10 seconds faster in the 1600m to set a new personal best.

A 4×4 team of Marcus Brown, Ricky Taylor, Jack Morrison, and Jack Antonsen placed 5th in their relay event. Sophomore Dylan McDonnell placed 4th in the 55m hurdle sprint and junior James Worthington placed 7th in the 55m sprint for the sprinters.

Track and field is a sport in which you can compete in many events. Many athletes make the mistake of never trying new events and finding an event they may be great in. Track and field lets people find what they are good at, for example junior track and field member Troy Bever has nearly done it all for the team.

”When I tried throwing and sprinting, I started to see other aspects of the team. Being on multiple events in track not only helped me find what I love but also helped me grow as a person,” Troy said.

The field events performed well for the Crusaders the past weekend. Junior Marcus Kennedy made an impressive 6’ 2” in the high jump to take home gold for the Crusaders. In the pole vault event, junior Joe Heilman vaulted 10’ 8” and placed 4th. Senior captain Julius Lujano threw 41’ 10” and placed third in the shot put.

Charlie Mendez, a freshman thrower, is new to the sport of throwing and track and field. The individual aspect of track and field may feel different from other sports. This may be a new experience for people who competed in a different type of team sport. “

In track and field, no one holds you back besides yourself. You go as far as you want to in the sport. This makes it different from other sports where an individual can be limited from how far they go because of their team,” Charlie said.