c/o Frank Poulin

On your mark, get set, go! Men and women’s track and field is returning to action this winter, beginning with a track meet on Friday, Dec. 7 against Trinity and Conn College. With the new season getting started, our Cardinal athletes have been spending the last few months practicing to take last year’s already great season to another level. Here are some things to look out for in the upcoming season.

Sprinter Jenny Aguiar ’19 is one athlete to keep your eye on. Aguiar finished in third place last season for the 400m run, with 47.61 in the New England Outdoor Championship. Furthermore, she also finished fourth out of 26 at the NESCAC Championship last year at Trinity for the 400m run with a time of 58.07. Aguiar also earned five first-place finishes at the Elmer Swanson Invitational last April. It is especially impressive that she was able to accomplish all this while also battling a case of Lyme disease. This year, she will look for a season of recovery and to possibly best her previous records.

Andrew McCracken ’19 is another interesting athlete to look out for this season. McCracken, who will now be going into his final year, broke his own school record for pole vault with a leap of 4.57m at the Elmer Swanson Invitational last April. McCracken also finished second place last season at the Last Chance Meet at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in May, with a leap of 4.54m.

Last season, three Cardinals were awarded with US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCA) All-Region honors, which would be received upon finishing in the top five in the region (New England) of a particular event. On the women’s team, Sara Pinsonault ’20 placed fifth in the 3000m run with a school record of 10:59.68. Emma Trapani ’21 also broke school record when she finished fifth in the 10,000m run with 38:12. On the men’s team, Kevin DeLoughry ’21 finished fourth in the 400m hurdle with 54.13 at the Amherst Spring Fling.

Despite strong individual performances, the Cardinals struggled greatly in last year’s NESCAC Championship at Trinity. The men’s team finished in 11th place with seven points, losing to Middlebury (172). Meanwhile, the women’s team finished in ninth place, with 39 points, losing to Williams (200), for the fifth consecutive year.

Jonas Powell, Staff Photographer

In addition, heading into the season, the Cardinals will be without some of their best athletes who graduated last spring, including mid-distance runner John Henry Vansant ’18 from the men’s team, and sprinter Tess Holland ’18 from the women’s team.

Aguiar, however, remains optimistic about how the team will perform in this upcoming season.

“For one, we have a great incoming class of athletes,” Aguiar said. “We will have more coverage in different events, and for relays, we will be especially stacked in. I’m very excited for the men and women’s 4×4 relay, the women’s 4×8 relay, and possibly an NCAA Qualifying DMR.”

Some members of the incoming class of athletes include mid-distance runner Becky Velie ’22 for the women’s team, and sprinters Christian Denny ’22 and Griffin Maristany ’22 for the men’s team.

“I am particularly excited for Becky,” Aguiar said. “She is really strong in practice, and I can already tell she will become a pivotal part of our relays. I also can’t wait for what Christian and Griffin will do. They are both versatile players and will play extremely important roles on the men’s 4×4. I think they can do some damage at the NESCACs in the spring.”

The Cardinals, however, realize that they still have a long way to go to prepare themselves for the NESCAC championship.

“Last season, I was happy that our team did well in the events they were expected to do well in,” Aguiar said. “However, being a small team in the NESCAC, it is really important that we stretch our boundaries in events, and attempt to do other events up in races/events to get more points in the big championship meets.”

Franklin Ribli can be reached at fribli@wesleyan.edu.