The runway is empty.
The engines have withdrawn.
The wheels have dropped.
And the Bruins finally made a stop at home.
After 15 trips around the nation, the team competed at the Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational at Drake Stadium on Saturday for the last home meet this season. Its competitors were from USC, Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State LA.
Surrounded by family, friends and fans, the Bruins’ attitudes mirrored those of the audience as they shared celebrations and warmup chants.
While each event is met with the same focus and goals, track and field director Joanna Hayes said that competing at home relieved some of the tension her athletes faced when traveling.
“Here, they want to do well for the crowd. … It’s more of a lax situation,” Hayes said.“Right now, with the home meets, they love it. They enjoy it. … I love when they get to look up and see their parents, their families and their friends in the stand. They’re a lot more joyous when we’re at home.”
Sprinter/hurdlers freshman Olivia Griffin and senior Zaire Waring started the team off strong halfway through the competition, placing first in the women’s and men’s 400-meter hurdles at 58.06 seconds and 51.10 seconds, respectively.
Redshirt senior sprinter/hurdler Madison Fleming and junior hurdler Davis Davis-Lyric accompanied them in the men and women’s 110-meter hurdles, respectively, and graduate student sprinter/hurdler Chris Paige competed in the men’s 400-meter hurdles. All three athletes placed second in their events.
The Bruins took all of the spots on the men’s discus podium, as throwers senior Michael Pinckney, junior Jake Stafford and sophomore Derek Smith all scored 54.39 meters or above.
Stafford’s 55.67 set a new personal best, which he said was the result of a meticulous yet relaxed mindset.
“Each throw is a little different.” Stafford said. “There’s a couple technical cues that I’ve been working on the last couple weeks that (have) been doing good things for me, so just trying to hone in on those. Then, at a certain point when I felt confident in the technique, just be loose, have fun with it and let my body take care of what it should know how to do.”
Near the throwers on the left side of the field were the shot putters. Senior Xaver Hastenrath and Smith snagged gold at 19.34 meters and silver at 16.65 meters, respectively.
Competing at the same time as the throwers, sophomore pole vaulter Cade Sommers continuously raised the bar in men’s pole vault, placing 12th on the Big Ten outdoor performance list with a 5.20-meter performance and celebrating several clearances. The audience cheered immediately after many of his landings.
But Sommers was not the only Bruin to interact with the audience.
Multis graduate student Sydney Johnson placed first in the women’s long jump, and jumpers freshman Nicolas Alexis and redshirt sophomore Michael Haugo placed second and third, respectively, in the men’s long jump. Jumpers senior Mackenzie Kirk and sophomore Ava Kellenberg placed first and second, respectively, in the women’s triple jump.
As Kellenberg ran down the track, the audience’s clapping and chanting – sparked by the athlete – amplified the noise and pace as she approached her jump.
“I’m a senior. This is only my second year actually competing at Drake Stadium because I was injured for my first two years.” Kirk said. “It was an original mark. … It was an outdoor PR. … A lot of my friends and family were there, … so that meant a lot to me to be able to do that at home.”
Separated across two heats, senior sprinter Naomi Johnson championed the first heat of the women’s 200-meter dash at 23.23 seconds followed by sophomore sprinter Kayla McBride in second place.
But now, the team must leave behind what’s familiar to face new challenges, relying on Hayes’ knowledge while also valuing team bonding experiences.
“We have a lot of fun together when we travel because our events are all so separated and different. That when we get to travel – it’s the first time we all get to mesh as a group.” Stafford said. “We’ll play cards, we’ll play games, we’ll go out and get some food together – it’s great team bonding.”
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