The men’s and women’s track and field teams traveled to Trine University in Angola, Indiana to compete in the Sean Brady Alumni Invite on Saturday. 

This was the third meet of the indoor season. The men’s team scored 22 points and placed 10th of 14 teams, and the women placed 14th of 14.

On the women’s team, the field events were led by our star thrower, Willow Kenneda, a junior. Kenneda placed 14th in shot put with a throw of 10.54 meters (34 feet 7 inches) and placed 18th in the weight throw with a throw of 12.34 m (40-6). On the jumping side of the field, Maddy Axom, a freshman, cleared a height of 1.55 m (5-1) in the high jump. Axom also competed in the long jump, accompanied by fellow freshman Kennedy Land. Axom placed 13th with a jump length of 4.89 m (16-1) and Land placed 20th with a jump of 4.59 m (15-1).

Also competing for the women, Mia Wellington, a junior, placed first in her heat and sixth overall in the 600-meter race with a time of 1 minute, 44.48 seconds. Following her was freshman Britney Ortega who placed second in her heat and eighth overall with a time of 1:49.71.

The track and field team is meeting the beginning of the season with firm optimism all-around. “I feel like we are in a good place,” said distance coach Rustin Nyce. “There are some very encouraging aspects of our first races of the year.”

Maria Maldonado, a junior, competed in the 60-meter dash landing in 11th place with a time of 8.20 seconds. Maldonado also competed in the 200, where she placed sixth with a time of 26.69.

On the men’s side, freshman Drew Hogan competed in the 600 alongside his teammates Jordan Garlinger, a sophmore, and freshman Anthony Roberts. Hogan won his heat in dramatic fashion with a time of 1:25.86, landing him in third place overall. Following right behind him was Garlinger, who placed fifth overall with a time of 1:26.46, and Roberts, who placed eighth with a time of 1:28.30. For the 4×400, Garlinger, Hogan and Roberts were joined by Kevin Liddell, a sophomore. The team finished first in their heat and sixth overall with a time of 3:40.27. Overall, Hogan had a great showing, scoring 14 of the 22 team points scored by the men’s team and becoming the Everence Student-Athlete of the Week.

Athletes on the team have set their sights on joining their teammate Summer Cooper at the indoor national meet in Brookings, South Dakota in March. Goshen College’s next meet will be on Saturday at Purdue University Fort Wayne to compete in the Mastodon Invite.