Track heads southward for nonconference invitationals

After last week’s successful outings at Princeton and Penn, Columbia track will once again split up this weekend. A group composed primarily of middle and long distance will head to North Carolina for the Joe Hilton Carolina Classic, while another—mostly sprints and field events—will head to Virginia for the Mason Spring Invitational.

Much anticipated at UNC is the women’s 1500m, in which junior Jacqueline Drouin and freshman Caroline McDonough will shoot for fast times. The two had great runs over 5k at the Stanford Invitational back on March 27 and have put in good training since. For Drouin, the metric mile is a preferred distance—indeed, she had the fastest time in the league at 1 mile this indoor season—while for McDonough, the distance is a step down.

Additionally, junior Jeff Moriarty and senior Serita Lachesis will represent the Light Blue at 800m. Moriarty was on fire at the distance last spring—clocking a sixth in the NCAA with a time of 1:47.96—and ran an auspicious 3:45.76 1500m outdoor opener at Princeton last week. Lachesis is coming off of a solid indoor campaign that saw him with the fourth fastest mark for the distance in the league.

Sprinters hope for the Virginia warmth to be conducive to fast performances at George Mason. Sophomores Sharay Hale and Kyra Caldwell should lead the way for the group as they did indoors. After a 1:00.54 debut at Penn, Caldwell will look to improve to less than one minute over the 400m hurdles. Hale will run under distance at 100m and 200m following her 53.85 mark in the 400m at Florida last week. The two will join forces for the women’s 4x400m relay along with sophomore Kristen Houp and freshman Yamira Bell. This will be the first venture over the 400m oval for the group that broke the CU record repeatedly indoors.

On the field, freshmen Uju Ofoche and Jocelyn Briggs should be names to watch in the long jump. Freshmen QueenDenise Okeke and sophomore Uzunma Udeh will compete in the triple jump. Lastly, sophomore Monique Roberts will look to maintain the momentum of last week’s high jump victory and an indoor season that saw her qualify for the national meet.

The Lions return to action at Princeton and Auburn next weekend in anticipation of the Penn relays, April 22-25.