COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Trevecca Nazarene University track and field teams turned in their best performances of the year at the Capital (University) Classic/Rick Meindl Last Chance. The women's team won the event, in its inaugural season of track, it is the first team victory for a Trevecca track team. The men's team impressed as well, finishing sixth overall.
Trevecca was competing against several quality NCAA Division II programs, including fellow G-MAC member Central State.
This concludes the first-ever indoor track season at Trevecca. The outdoor season will begin March 22nd when the teams participate in the Rhodes Invitational in Memphis, Tenn.
Women's Team
For the first time this year, the women's runners were asked to compete in multiple events, at optimum effort, to score points, to win or score well in the overall team competition.
Coach Selby was obviously pleased with the women's performance, "This is a huge day for the program. You could not ask more from anyone else. With only 11 girls competing, and with no field points, we won. Unreal!"
What made the victory even more significant is that not a single point was earned by Trevecca in any field event. All their points were earned in the 400 Meter length and up. The team also did not run in the Distance Medley Relay or in the 60 meter dash or the 4x200.
Selby concluded, "It is hard to point at a single stellar runner, but Anna Hoffman, Lauren Carmody, Biz Mclendon, and Lindsey Mathis, brought in almost 70% of our points. That speaks volumes for their performance and results.
Anna Hoffman won the 400 and the 800, which were about 35 minutes apart, and she anchored the 4x400 that placed high enough to secure the victory for the Trojans.
Prior to the meet, Trevecca did not have at team entered in the 4x400. Coach Selby put a team together at the last minute. The group needed to finish ahead of Ohio Northern for a TNU overall victory, and they did just that.
Lauren Carmody ran exceptionally well, not only scoring high in the 5000 Meter and 1000 Meter races, but winning the 5K.
Trevecca's entries in the 1000 Meter event produced 22 points with their 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 7th place finishes.
Lindsey Mathis and Biz Mclendon turned in a combined 14 points with a 1st and 2nd place finish in the 3000 Meter event. They pushed the Trojans to 1st in the team event, a lead they didn't relinquish.