The men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams concluded their seasons with their final home meet on Feb. 28 and the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships on March 7 and 8.
The women finished third at the conference meet, behind champion Denison College and runner-up Allegheny College, with a total of 105 points.
Highlights for the women included junior Shannon Houlihan’s first-place finish in the triple jump and senior Laura Feeney’s performance in the middle distance and distance events, in which she garnered NCAC MVP honors.
Houlihan won the triple jump with a jump of 36’8”, qualifying her for nationals. Feeney broke her own school record in the 5,000m run with a time of 17:55.14, just 0.14 seconds above the national qualification cut-off. Feeney finished second in the 3,000m run, as well.
Feeney also anchored the distance medley relay team’s record-setting effort, with senior Lori Tuchfeld, first-year Rebecca Turnbull and sophomore Leslie Bosworth. Their time of 12:54.43 secured first place and both a school and conference record.
“I’m always amazed at how small our team is,” senior Teresa Collins said, “and yet we are still able to compete against and beat teams that have twice or three times as many people as we do. Everyone gave everything they had in order to get the third place finish.”
A pair of individual third-place finishes rounded out the team’s top efforts. Senior Courtney Stackhouse sprinted to third in the 55m dash in 7.44s, and Houlihan captured third in the 55m hurdles with a time of 8.87s.
The men didn’t quite live up to expectations, finishing eighth in the conference.
Sophomore Bret Petersen highlighted the men’s showing. He reset his own record from the previous week, running the 200m dash in 23.28s for a second-place finish.
Petersen also attained second place in the 400m dash with a time of 50.69.
Before the championships, head coach Jason Hudson gave a fairly accurate prediction as to how it would all pan out.
“We are hoping to finish seventh with the men at the conference meet and in the top three with the women,” he said.
At the Oberlin Last Chance meet Feb. 28, Petersen shone for the men’s team. He came in first in the 400m and second in the 200m.
Simultaneously, he set a school record of 23.46. The previous record had been 23.74, set by Junior Quammie Semper in 2001.
“When I get into the blocks,” Petersen said, “all I think about is running away from a man with a knife. If I don’t run fast enough, he will kill me.”
He was named NCAC sprinter of the week for his performance.
Not to be outdone, Stackhouse captured the same honor on the women’s side after the Last Chance meet.
She anchored the first-place 800m relay (1:49:21) and finished second in the 55m dash in a time of 7.51.
Aside from Stackhouse, Collins posted a strong showing, finishing third in the 200m.
“It was the first time I had run the open 200 meter since last year,” Collins said. “I was a little apprehensive about it because it’s not one of my best events. But I guess I did okay. Third place isn’t bad, right?”
The conference championships closed Oberlin’s indoor season. The teams do not get much of a break, however, as the outdoor portion starts up right away.
“I am so happy indoor track is over,” Petersen said. “Track belongs outdoors.”