COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The AU men's and women's track teams competed in the Terrapin Invitational on the campus of the University of Maryland on Saturday, placing ninth and 18th, respectively, in the second major event of the outdoor season.
On the men's side, sophomore Awit Yohannes victory highlighted the meet by winning the 1,500-meter run with a time of 3 minutes 53.48 seconds. It was his second win in as many weeks, his previous being in the 5,000 at the Navy Invitational.
Junior Conor Lanz finished close behind Yohannes with a time of 3:54.79, good for third place in the event.
In the highest-scoring event of the day for the men, three runners finished within the top eight in the 5,000. Sophomore Kris Cruz and junior Dan Beardslee led the event early on, eventually settling for third and fourth with times of 15:04.29 and 15:07.36, respectively. Senior Will Knox held off a late charge by his opponents to finish at 15:27.22, good enough for eighth place and the final point in the event.
Sophomore Steve Hallinan finished a respectable sixth in the 800 with a time of 1:54.63. The result was only two seconds shy of his personal best in the event, set while he was still in high school.
"We had strong showings by our top runners, some of which had to compete in multiple events or events that they were not accustomed too," assistant coach Brett Harvey said. "For being in the first half of the season, the meet was really good."
For the women, the lone victor and point-earner was senior Keira Carlstrom, who continued to dominate in the 5,000.
In one of the most impressive performances of the day, Carlstrom was aided by teammate Zaia Wharton, who helped pace Carlstrom through the first half of the race. After Wharton dropped out of the race, Carlstrom cruised to a time of 16:24.44, the second best time of her career and third best in school history.
Carlstrom was so dominating that she lapped about three-quarters of the field and finished a whole minute in front of second place Stacy Kim of Pennsylvania. The time also automatically qualified Carlstrom a spot at the NCAA regional in late May.
"I was very pleased by Carlstrom's performance and even more impressed by Wharton's selfless racing in the 5,000 meters," Harvey said. "For her to go out late in the day and do that for a teammate was great to watch."
Next up for the track teams is the Duke Invitational in Durham, N.C., this weekend, with an eye toward the prestigious Penn Relays at the end of April.
