Rochester, N.Y. - The Bard College track and field team was one of ten teams packed into Gordon Field House at Rochester Institute of Technology for Indoor Liberty Leagues. Raptors represent twelve of the assembled athletes over two days. Over seven hours, the Raptors set one new school record, a slew of personal bests, and strode into the weekend with confidence, finding their place in the stacked conference.
From Coach Brody Smith: "This is one of many small steps in the program," and represents for him a watershed moment, where Bard Track and Field is resembling a fully-fledged team.
Johnny Henriquez, simulating the heptathlon he is normally competing in, threw the shot put, ran the 60-meter dash, and went for the long jump. He ended up throwing 8.58 meters in the shot put, while also clocking a personal-best 7.73-second 60m dash and a 4.78-meter long jump; marks that may not seem impressive compared to the top of their respective disciplines in the Liberty League, but put him in good standing with the other heptathletes. He looks toward the decathlon in the outdoor season, which will give him more time to fully develop his multifaceted game.
Carina Cooke, stranded in the middle of her heat, ran a personal best 1:02.51 in the 400m. Aiden Trapp also continued his foray into the 400m, finding himself in a similar situation to Cooke; 56.34, but unable to pace with anyone. The time placed Cooke 13th at the event and inspired her enough to enter the 200m the following day, as well as to discuss breaking the 4x400m relay school record with teammates Chloe Desautels, Kai Roper, and Loie Acton. The aforementioned team will attempt the mark tomorrow. Cooke also competed in the 60m, having qualified for both events. 8.46 seconds places her 19th overall. The senior waves goodbye to the 60m, and must now adapt to the windy conditions and more open fields emblematic of outdoor sprinting.
Freya Jones, racing through difficult conditions, found herself—like many of Bard's other distance athletes—stranded in her race. With nobody to run with, she fought her way into a 5:53.03 in the mile, nearly replicating her time from West Point, but under much more trying circumstances.
The other miler, Elijah Flynn, made a powerful step back to his old form. As he returns from an achilles injury, the junior nearly broke his personal best and the school record, coming in at 4:37.98. The directive from Coach Brody was: stay with the pack, try to pick off as many as you can. Flynn, beginning in the back, managed to stick with the directive despite the competitive field. Both milers look to adapt now to the 1500m over the outdoor season.
Unsurprisingly, Eanna Hauck routinely obliterated her school record, making it three consecutive school records taken by the first-year. She rocketed her second attempt out to 11.03 meters, representing a new personal best and school record by nearly half a meter. She is the first Bard Field athlete to make it to the finals of an event, where she just missed the podium in 9th place.
Flynn, Aiden Trapp, Devin James, Bo Hopwood, constituted the Distance Medley Relay team that broke the three-year standing record that was ran by Graeme Lauterbach-Mason, Nic Soucy, Cole Ewalt, Darrion Thornburgh. Flynn took the team out at 3:20.98 over his 1200m leg, feeling fatigued from his mile effort, but with enough determination to overtake his Vassar opponent in the final stretch. He handed the baton to the shortest leg of the race, the 400m, represented by Trapp. After 56.20 seconds, in which Vassar reclaimed their place, Trapp handed the baton to James, who was entering his second career race. Not usually an 800m runner, James' aggressive running style played to his favor, finding a 2:16.55 to bring the team to 6:33.72 going into the final leg. Poetically, Hopwood, the longest-tenured member, brought the team home. Up against the best milers Liberty League has to offer, Hopwood finished off the relay with a 5:05.62 mile, for a total of 11:39.34, and a new school record for the team. The performance put them on the podium at 8th, Bard's only podium appearance for the day.
"Tomorrow, we do it all over again!" Coach Brody Smith exclaims, while the bus pulls out of RIT. Calvin Thomas, Cooke, Desautels, Roper, and Acton race tomorrow. Cooke is up first, in the 200m, followed by Thomas in the 3000m. Everyone but Thomas makes up the 4x400m team for tomorrow; they have their sights set on the school record, but will need a magical performance from each leg to pull it off. Bard Track and Field rests for tonight, dreaming of taking the next of many steps.
Women
60m
Carina Cooke 8.46
400m
Carina Cooke 1:02.51
Mile
Freya Jones 5:53.03
Shot Put
9. Eanna Hauck 11.03m (36-8 ¾) School Record
Men
Distance Medley Relay (DMR)
Elijah Flynn, Aiden Trapp, Devin James, Bo Hopwood 11:39.34 School Record
60m
Johnny Henriquez 7.73
400m
Aiden Trapp 56.34
Mile
Elijah Flynn 4:37.98
Long Jump
Johnny Henriquez 4.78m (15-8 ¼)
Shot Put
Johnny Henriquez 8.58m (28-1 ¾)
