Sophomore Molly Huddle blew away the competition in the mile run as she and her Irish track and field teammates turned in a solid performance Friday night at the Loftus Sports Center. The men's and women's indoor teams hosted Western Michigan, Ball State, Loyola of Chicago and Depaul and came away with firsts in 16 events.
Huddle, a returning All-American in the 3,000-meter run, posted a first-place time of 4 minutes, 49.21 seconds in the mile as junior teammate Kerry Meagher finished second in 4:52.32.
Also on the women's side, Stacy Cowan continued her success in the high jump, winning it with a height of 1.75 meters, nearly topping the school record of 1.80 meters.
Senior Tiffany Gunn was a double winner, securing both the 500-meter dash and the 60-meter hurdles with times of 1:13.41 and 8.83, respectively.
Sophomore Petra Dankova was a winner in the triple jump with a distance of 11.46 meters.
Ayesha Boyd triumphed in the 200-meter run while fellow senior Jill Van Weelden won the pole vault.
On the men's side, the Irish were dominant in the 800-meter run. Junior Eric Morrison came in first with a time of 1:52.21, while teammates Thomas Chamney, Kurt Benninger, Kevin Somok and Vincent Ambrico rounded out the top five spots.
Morrison was happy with how the race turned out.
"It was our first race this year, and it was good to see where everyone's at," he said. "It was a great confidence-booster for us."
Senior Godwin Mbagwu was victorious in both the long jump and triple jump with distances of 6.73 meters and 15.06 meters, respectively.
The Irish weight throw tandem of Juan Alba and Chip Roberts came away with solid performances. Alba took first place with a throw of 17.16 meters, while Roberts placed third with a distance of 16.18 meters.
Junior Selim Nurudeen was a winner in the 60-meter hurdles in a time of 7.96 while freshman Tommie Lee won the 60-meter dash in 7.09.
Freshman Dave Viken qualified for the Big East Championships with a second place finish in the pole vault, clearing a height of 4.65 meters.
Other winners were sophomore Ryan Postel in the 400-meter run as well as juniors Trevor McClain-Duer in the 500-meter race and Ryan Mineburg in the high jump.
