The Colorado College men’s and women’s track and field teams posted many best-times and all-conference performances throughout their 2019 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships in San Antonio, Texas.
On the first day of the meet, the Tigers dominated three of the four running events. Allysa Warling ’19 and Tony Calderon ’20 won the women’s and men’s 10,000-meter races, while Max Blackburn ’20 captured gold in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Warling, the 2016 SCAC 5K champion, won this year’s 10K, with a time of 38:57.99. Colorado College sophomore Alexia Preston ’21 finished third in the event and earned her first all-SCAC honor with a time of 41:35.64, an exciting result for the end of her first track season ever.
“I am so honored and happy to have won this event my senior year,” Warling said. “I couldn’t have done it without my amazing coaches and teammates.”
Meanwhile, Calderon successfully defended his 10K title, winning the race in 33:08.53. David Eik ’19 was No. 3 with a time of 33:38.74.
“I am super happy to get the win again,” Calderon said. “I just stayed focused through the heat and humidity and got it done.”
Furthermore, Blackburn, who finished third in the 3K steeplechase last year, captured his first SCAC track title with a personal-best time of 9:46.12.
Andrew West ’21 posted a personal-best time of 10:11.35 in the 3K steeplechase, just missing all-SCAC honors by finishing No. 4 in the event.
“It was a great race and a great way to start the weekend,” Blackburn said. “I am glad to get the win, and to help lead my teammate Andrew West to a big PR.”
Camille Weaver ’21, the 2018 SCAC women’s high jump champion and also a multi-sport athlete at CC, earned all-conference accolades on Friday by finishing second in the javelin and third in the triple jump.
After an impressive first day of their two-day meet, the women’s team was tied for second with Texas Lutheran University, and the men were in third place.
On the second day, CC’s Henry Baldwin ’19 captured his fourth consecutive high jump title.
Baldwin became the first Tiger to four-peat a single event in school history, and was the first high jumper in SCAC history to win four conference titles in a row. After knocking out three competitors at the winning height of 6 feet and 5.5 inches, he attempted to clear a school-record leap of 6 inches 9.75 inches, but failed on all three tries. Later, Baldwin was recognized by CC as the male athlete of the year.
Paul Olsen ’21 earned all-SCAC honors as well, with a second-place finish in the 1,500-meter race, finishing in 4:03.05.
Additionally, the men’s 4×400-meter relay team finished No. 2 and set a school record in the process. Damon Hardwick ’21, Quin Gattey ’19, Michael Gorman ’21, and Max Perozek ’22 finished at record-breaking pace with a time of 3:20.88, which bested the event’s 18-year school-record.
Weaver gathered her first individual titles of the meet on Saturday, and combined with a second and third-place result on Friday in her field events: Weaver set a school record, with 42 points throughout the weekend. For her incredible efforts, she was named the SCAC female athlete of the meet.
Megan Koch ’22 had an impressive showing on Saturday as well, compiling a pair of second-place results. She was the runner-up in the 1,500-meter race and in the 800-meter event. In both events, she ran hard against one of the best runners in the nation, Texas Lutheran junior Ashley Rynard.
After the meet, Warling was named the inaugural SCAC women’s track and field Elite 19 award winner. The SCAC Elite 19 is awarded to the student-athlete who has a cumulative 3.25 GPA or above, at least 60 credit hours and earns All-SCAC honors for that particular season. Warling currently holds a 3.96 GPA while majoring in neuroscience and minoring in biochemistry.
In the end, the men’s and women’s teams both finished third in the 2019 SCAC Conference Championships in San Antonio. Great job, Tigers!