As the saying goes, everything is bigger in Texas. This was certainly a big weekend for the track and field team. Trinity University, located in San Antonio, hosted the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference championship meet. Prior to this weekend, a female Tiger had never taken first place in any SCAC championship event, but now, two women can claim a champion title.
Senior Rebecca Lavietes and sophomore Leah Wessler led the charge for the women’s team en route to a third-place title, the best in Tiger history. Wessler and Lavietes finished first and second in the 5K, and Lavietes notched a first-place finish in the 10K.
Head coach Ted Castaneda noted that this year’s results were outstanding. Last year, the women’s team only scored 34 points in total, but this year they doubled that with a final score of 72.
“We’re very excited about [the results] because everyone was looking really good and this is our biggest meet of the year,” Castaneda said. In practices and meets leading up to the meet, Castaneda saw his team build major momentum. “After the [last meet] we knew they were ready to perform,” he said.
One of the main contributors to the women’s point improvement was sophomore Stefani Messick, who took 2nd place in the 800 and 3rd place in the 4×400 relay. To prepare for this meet, Messick was constantly checking the leader board in order to see where she stood during whole season.
“Throughout the season, I watched myself climb the SCAC rankings as my training fell into place,” Messick said. “Entering the race, I had lots of confidence because I knew I had the mileage and the speed.”
According to Messick, she knew that she had just one really strong competitor in her race and she used that to really fuel her training.
“It really brought me to a new level in my race,” Messick said. “It felt good because it was finally one of those races where I didn’t have anything left. It’s just a good feeling when you know that you can leave it all on the track.” Messick was one of many who gave her race all she had.
Other notable performances include seniors Graham Frank and Sam English’s performances in the men’s 5000 meters, where they took second and third place respectively. Also, Sophomore Ryan Bing placed 2nd in the men’s 800 with a personal record of 1:57:40.
With the SCAC championship comes a new level of intensity, according to junior Jake Rothman. “It’s the last meet for most people and its conference so everyone is putting everything on the line,” he said. Rothman noted that the 90-degree weather and the humidity were racing conditions he wasn’t used to.
“I think everyone else was struggling with [the heat] too, just staying in the gym trying to stay cool the whole time.”
Even with brutal weather conditions, though, Rothman said the results will definitely have a positive impact on next season. “We had so many amazing performances, and it’s really going to inspire a lot of people for next year to improve,” Rothman said. “I think we proved as a team that we can do really well.”
Coach Castaneda agreed that these results will create inspiration for next year. “This season’s results are already getting people excited for next year and recruiting is going really well,” Castaneda said. “So combine that with what we’ve done this year…it’s something I think everyone is going to be looking forward to.”
It was a big weekend for the track and field team, with more top finishes and points scored than ever before, and it was definitely a meet to be remembered.