LAWRENCE, KS—The Golden Sun Track and Field team faced off in their second meet of the 22’ season, facing off against eight schools from the Mid-American region.
“My goal is that we see progression in this meet,” Head Track and Field coach Brock Hime said. “It’s a long season, and we could run our fastest times in February and be happy at the moment. But I guarantee when we get to the conference, we may be happy with what we did in February and then crash in May when there are accolades on the line. So, it’s baby steps and to get to where we need to be, and then we will be ready to roll.”
The Suns’ picked up a win in the morning heat of the one mile, with freshman Mary Beth Bailey crossing the line at 5:16. Following behind Bailey, sophomore Cali Beshore picked up a third-place finish at 5:20, while sophomore Karina Maravillas ran her first mile of the season and finished 5:26. The morning mile inmovement for the Suns was sophomore Felicity West ending at 5:29.
Two weeks prior, the Suns traveled to Louisiana State, where Bailey also led the mile for Tech at a time of 5:22. Beshore saw an eight-second improvement over the two-week stretch running 5:28 in Baton Rouge, as West picked up a season-best, improving at 5:30.
The Suns’ also put on a show in the afternoon heat of 3000 meters. Sophomore Ashlynn Mays led the way after contesting the lead for the first two laps of the 15-lap race. Mays finished third in the heat with a time of 10:36. Sophomore Morgann Browning followed right behind Mays with a time of 10:39. Freshman Marcie Cudworth capped the day off for the Golden Suns finishing seven with a time of 10:49, improving off an 11:05 3000 in Baton Rouge.
“We are light years ahead of where we were last year,” Hime said. “In the last three weeks, we have had the best workout that we have had in months. It takes a minimum of 21 days to see that come through, and in two more weeks, we will light it up. I think everyone is pretty happy; I think there are things we could do better; I just hope we can keep perspective of where we are trying to get.”
The Suns’ have another two weeks between meets and will compete at the Ichabod Invitational at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas, on Feb. 12.
