The Cardinals traveled to Boston for the last meet of the indoor track and field regular season on Saturday, Feb. 11. Most went to the Gordon Kelly Invitational at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, though some athletes participated in the David Hemery Invitational at Boston University.

“It was a good meet,” said pole vaulter Jack Northrop ’20, who competed at Gordon Kelly in the Johnson Athletic Center.

“I can’t speak for MIT, as I sadly was unable to see our boys squad crush crush crush over there, but BU had an electric atmosphere,” said Reid Hawkins ’17. “There were lights on the whole time, and I think that the timing system used electricity too. The other NESCAC guys try to be friendly so we have loads of awkward conversations centered around attempts to relate to each other in ways outside of running. It’s comforting.”

“The way BU does it with girls one day and boys the other day also creates a unique atmosphere,” Hawkins said.

In the David Hemery Invitational, the women compete on Friday and the men race on Saturday. It also includes both Division I and professional athletes.

On that Friday, Jenny Aguiar ’19 set a new program record in the 400-meter dash, running a 57.27. The next day, Hawkins ran in the 3000m, and Grant Van Inwegen ’20 ran the 800m run, while Tate Knight ’18, Shota Nakamura ’19 and Conner Sexton ’20 competed in the one mile.

“Conner Sexton running 4:20 was a highlight for me,” Hawkins said.

However, the bulk of the athletes were at MIT, where numerous impressive performances were also registered.

Frank McField ’20 ran the 60m run in 7.32, taking fourth place, and placed second in the 200m with a time of 22.94. William Bajohr ’20 won the mile with a time of 4:32.97, followed by Kevin McMorrow ’20 in third with a time of 4:39.52 and Adam Linsky ’20 in fourth with a showing of 4:43.36. Joshua Signore ’19 took second in the 3000m at 9:20.80, shortly ahead of Connor Cobb ’18 in third with a time of 9:23.50.

In the field, Andrew McCracken ’19 continued his success by taking fourth in the pole vault with a jump of 4.12m. Wesley Layug ’17 placed sixth in the triple jump with a mark of 12.08m, and Northrop snagged seventh in the long jump with a leap of 5.91m.

“I just love the boys,” Hawkins said. “I’m incredibly emotionally volatile, so when things go well for me I like everyone much more, and I figure I might as well express that feeling while I’ve got it; but actually, I still like them even when things go poorly.”

On the women’s team at the MIT event, the 800m results mirrored the men’s mile results. Julia Mitchell ’19 took first in a time of 2:26.73, while Sylwia Lipior ’18 finished third in 2:27.85 and Christina Hebner ’17 crossed fourth in 2:28.99. In the mile itself, Mitchell won again with a run of 5:22.92, while the 4x200m relay team of Isabella Reilly ’19, Alex Dibrindisi ’19, Katie Maehl ’19 and Tess Holland ’18 claimed the top spot in 1:57.21. Joie Akerson ’17 won the 5000m at 19:15.02.

Second place finishes came from Reilly in the 600m race with a performance of 1:42.81, as well as Nikita Rajgopal ’17’s 3:09.82 in the 1000m. Across the field house, Casey Rothschild ’20 claimed second place in the triple jump with a mark of 10.81m. Rosie Skovron ’20 finished fifth in the 3000m race with a time of 11:21.52.

“It’s just the usual blend of good, okay, and bad performances,” Hawkins said. “Some people are struggling, others run well, and we all generally agree that it’s a relatively difficult activity either way. Like that game with the ball on the stick: If you had to practice doing it twice a day every day for years to even have a shot at being good, and even then it didn’t work out all the time. So actually exactly like the game with the ball on the stick. I think the attitude of the team could best be described as ‘saucy.’”

Next for the Cardinals are the Division III New England Regional Championships on Feb. 17-18.

“Expect more of the same,” Hawkins said. “Tough racing, except for the times when it’s really hard to be tough so we sad boy and race slow. Consistent training too. Maybe some decent outfits; we tried crop tops for one workout, but if all goes well, that could come back. I’m guessing there’ll be a NESCAC championship, there usually is. Bold prediction: More than one of our underclassmen runs really fast, and more than five of them grow as human beings in the pursuit of doing so. That’s really our end goal.”