By George Tatoris
Staff Writer
The men’s and women’s indoor track teams are training hard for their opening meet, the New Year’s Invitational hosted by Princeton University, which will be held on Friday, Dec. 11.
The meet will feature teams from all three divisions and will not be scored.
At last year’s invitational, the women’s team excelled thanks to the efforts of its senior class, with 10 top 10 finishes.
Four of those top 10 finishes were achieved by seniors and the winning relay team was comprised of three seniors.
In the 4x400 relay, then-seniors Michelle Cascio, Joy Spriggs and Katelyn Ary, along with then-junior Kristen Randolph, took eighth place, with a combined time of 4:03.91.
The relay team eventually competed at the NCAA Division III Championships in March 2015, earning All-American honors in the process.
With so much talent loaded at the tail end of the age range, the pressure is on the incoming freshman to keep the team alive in years to come.
Freshman Erin Holzbaur, who had a promising debut in cross country this past semester, believes she will see more progress this coming winter.
“I am confident that the success we had during the cross country season will transfer over to the track,” Holzbaur said.
At the same meet last year, then-junior Jake Lindacher finished fifth overall in the 60-meter high hurdles with a time of 8.39 seconds.
Lindacher would go on to qualify for the NCAA National Championship, as well, finishing 13th overall in the event with a time of 8.35 seconds.
While the season will just be beginning for sprinters, hurdlers and field athletes, distance and mid-distance runners have a season of cross country under their belts to warm their gears for the winter season.
The College’s men’s and women’s teams fell short of Nationals this year, though both claimed ninth in the Atlantic Regionals Championship.
The difference in track is that the cross country runners will be spread across several different races instead of one single race.
“What I do like is how there are more options than just the 6K, so I’m excited to change it up and try different events,” Holzbaur said.
After the New Year’s Invitational, the next competition won’t be until Friday, Jan. 8, at the Villanova Open in Staten Island, N.Y.
