Men's and Women's Track & Field

April 8, 2008

Joe Macrini Reports on Trinity's Success at Bayou Classic

Houston, Texas – The Tiger men's and women's track & field teams competed at the Victor Lopez Bayou Classic on March 28 and March 29, continuing the team's tremendous success this year.

The meet, which was hosted by Rice University, saw Trinity break numerous school records and eclipse personal best marks.  Senior Joe Macrini has a detailed first-hand report on the meet, which can be read below.

"The Trinity track & field team competed at Rice University on March 28-29. It was a challenging meet on two levels; one because it was the week after spring break, and two because the meet had primarily Division I schools competing. The competition included the University of Texas, the University of Wyoming, Harvard, Rice, Texas State, University of Texas-San Antonio, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Sam Houston State University, Stephen F. Austin University, the University of Incarnate Word, and Southwestern University.

The Tigers got off to a great start Friday night with a number of great performances. Junior Chris Baer set a new school record in the javelin with a throw of 192 feet. That throw surpassed the provisional qualifying mark for the NCAA Championships. Assistant coach Brantley Lutz raced in a very competitive 5000 meter field and finished in eighth place with a time of 15:06.09. Coach Lutz excited the Trinity athletes with his gutsy performance, as he picked apart the other 31 competitors. Junior Emily Loeffler broke her own school record in the 5000 meters with a time of 17:42. Loeffler, who was last year’s SCAC top women’s point scorer, has been running extremely well this year and it has been very exciting to see her progress from meet to meet.

On Saturday, the Tigers continued with more great performances. First-year Zach Brush set a new school record in the 800 meters with a time of 1:54.11. Brush is favored to win the 800 meters at the SCAC Championships in late April. Sophomore Nigel Robinson had a busy day as he competed in four events. He ran the second leg for the 4x100 meter relay, led off the 4x400 meter relay, and competed in the 100 meters (11.46) and the 200 meters (23.16). Robinson is one of the top 100/200 meter runners in the SCAC. The men’s 4x100 meter relay which had Kevin Perkins, Nigel Robinson, Even Reville, and Ray Clark ran a time of 44.08. Reville and Clark were a part of the record setting relay last year that took first place in the SCAC, and they are looking to repeat this year. Junior Phil Avocato competed in the 110 meter hurdles (17.33), the 400 meter hurdles (59.00), and the 4x400 meter relay. Avocato is a great talent in the hurdle events and we are looking forward to seeing him in action at the SCAC Championships. Sophomore Chass Armstrong competed in the 800 meter dash (1:59.13) and will be competing next week in Los Angeles. Armstrong is the school record holder in the 1500 meters and is one of the strongest 1500 meter runners in the nation.

The Tigers had five women throwing javelin this weekend. First-year Sonia Brady took fifth place with a throw of 102 feet and Sophomore Beth Tweedy (Austin, TX) took sixth place with a throw of 96 feet. Kathryn Coster threw 84 feet, Rachel Brady threw 80 feet, and Jocelyn Stokes threw 76 feet. Stokes also competed in the discuss (114 feet) and the shot put (32-06 feet) this weekend.

Senior Joseph Macrini set a lifetime best in the 400 meter dash with a time of 49.46. Macrini also competed in the 200 meters (22.54) and ran second leg on the 4x400 meter relay. The men’s 4x400 meter relay which consisted of Nigel Robinson, Joseph Macrini, Phil Avocato, and Zach Brush finished with a time of 3:27.07. Currently, the relay team is ranked second in the SCAC behind Southwestern who hit a time of 3:24.19 at this same meet. Our goal is to take home the gold on the relay this year at the SCAC Championships, and we feel that we are very capable of accomplishing this goal.

In two weeks, the Tigers head to Angelo State to compete in the David Noble Relays. Junior Todd Wildman (Dallas, TX) will be competing in a number of events as he is getting ready for the SCAC Championships and then later on NCAA Championships Meet. This will be the last meet before we head out to Indiana for the SCAC Championships."