The Owls traveled to St. Armory, N.Y. this weekend to compete in the first-ever American Athletic Conference indoor track & field championship in which junior Alex Izewski set a school record in the 5000 meter run and finish fifth with a time of 14:39.46.
“It was pretty exciting,” Izewski said. “I think I competed pretty well with some of the top runners in the nation.”
The new record breaks the one set last year by junior Matt Kacyon.
Connecticut had the most successful day at the event as it enjoyed a first place finish on the men’s side with 148 points and second place in the women’s events with 104 points. Southern Methodist placed first in the women’s events with 115.5 points.
Temple finished with 10 points in the men’s events and 11 points in the women’s events.
“We did not perform very well,” Mobley said. “We still have a lot of work to do, but I felt everyone gave it their best.”
Mobley did not take the entire roster on the trip to New York, but said instead he wanted to bring his very best.
“Coming to these championships is something that is earned,” Mobley said. “We want to bring people who we feel have a chance to go out and get points for us.”
Senior Will Kellar was one of the student-athletes who “earned” the trip north, as he qualified for the finals with a sixth place finish in the one-mile run. Kellar went on to finish eighth in the final round.
“Anytime you can come out and advance and make it to the next round it really starts things off right for the rest of the team,” Mobley said.
Junior Kiersten LaRoche highlighted the first day events for the women’s team, as she finished sixth in the pentathlon, despite an ongoing hamstring injury. LaRoche performed the best in the 60-meter hurdles, but also finished in the Top 10 in the other four stages of the pentathlon.
“I think I performed pretty well,” LaRoche said. “The training staff has been working with my injury, but I feel like I can still go full board.
Izewski followed up his record-breaking performance the next day when he finished fifth in the 3000-meter run. Seconds behind Izewski was Kacyon with a time of 8:24.92, good for eighth place.
Pavone joined Izewski in setting a school record as she finished sixth in the one-mile run with a time of 4:58.18. Junior Jenna Dubrow finished slightly behind Pavone in 10th place with a time of 5:09.01. Pavone finished 15th in the 3000-meter run.
“Anna ran well with real guts and showed the ability to make her presence felt with the other competitors,” Mobley said.
Junior Margo Britton placed fourth in the shot put event with 15.48 meters.
Freshman Bionca St. Fluer, sophomore Courtney Mitchell and sophomore Demeshia Davis finished 19th, 20th, and 22nd in the 60-meter dash preliminary round.
Sophomore Imani Shell finished 14th in the long jump followed by St. Fluer who came in 20th.
Junior Hollis Coleman finished the 400-meter dash in 17th place in the preliminary round.
Sophomore Jamila Jennah finished ninth in the triple jump and tied for 15th in the high jump.
Freshman Joseph Ho finished 12th in the 60-meter hurdles during the preliminary round.
Junior Evan Battillo finished 15th in the shot put and in the 60-meter dash, the Owls were close in distance as they finished 13 second apart from each other. Senior Alimamy Kallay, freshman Adam Hassan, freshman Elijah Hargrove and sophomore Jamal Williams finished 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd respectively.
The teams will compete next weekend at Boston University in the IC4A and ECAC championships.
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