By Peter Baugher
Staff Writer
Franciscan University’s men’s and women’s indoor track teams placed fourth and eighth respectively in the President’s Athletics Conference (PAC) Championship on Feb. 24.
Senior Miguel Daez won two gold medals in the 3000-meter and 5000-meter run. Daez ran with a time of 8:37.83 in the 3000-meter and a time of 15:22.92 in the 5000-meter, both personal records.
Sophomore Alexander Blose placed fifth in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.88 seconds, breaking a university record in the process. Blose also broke his own school record for the pole vault with a height of 3.95 meters.
In the high jump, Freshman Aidan Flannery tied his own school record, placing in the top six competitors with a height of 1.80 meters.
In the 400-meter race, senior Ryan Ozymy broke the school record and placed second overall with a time of 48.91 seconds. Sophomore Joseph Rohde placed third in the same race with a time of 49.09 seconds.
Rohde and Ozymy also raced in the 200-meter dash, in which Rohde broke his own school record with a time of 22.38 and Ozymy finished with a time of 22.73.
Senior David Cappello, who holds the university record in the 800-meter, placed third in the 800-meter race with a time of 1:56.48, just three seconds away from his record of 1:53.94.
Daez, Flannery, Ozymy and Cappello placed second as a team in the 4×400-meter relay, coming only 0.05 seconds behind Washington and Jefferson College’s finish.
On the women’s side, sophomore Jessica Cambell broke the PAC record in the 800-meter event with a time of 2:20.38 and placed third overall in the meet.
Freshman Alana Bradford made the finals in the long jump event and broke a school record with a jump of 4.78 meters, allowing her to place ninth in the meet. She also almost made the finals in the 60-meter dash, breaking the university record set by sophomore Rachel Hurley in 2020 with a time of 8.34 seconds.
In the 400-meter dash, freshman Clara Symington broke her own school record with a time of 1:00.01 and placed second in the race.
In the 3000-meter run, Claire Walters placed third at PAC and fourth in university history with a time of 10:28.38.
In the distance medley relay, a team consisting of Walters, junior Victoria Unnerstall, junior Angelina Toole and sophomore Rachel Hurley placed fifth with a time of 13:30.20, the second fastest in university history and the best of the season for the women’s team.
In the 4×400 relay, a team consisting of Campbell, Walters, Symington and Rebecca Bolster came in second with a time of 4:19.54, the second fastest in the conference and a school record.
The men’s and women’s teams may compete in a “last chance” meet before the outdoor season begins, but, if not, the outdoor season will begin on March 16 with the Alan Connie Shamrock Invite in Myrtle Beach, SC.