HANK WICKLEY
SPORTS WRITER
On January 11th the Track and Field team took first place at the Jack Skoog Open. On top of that, two athletes were named Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association athletes of the week.
At the event, there were many top notch performances.
For the women’s team, Lauren Kucharczyk (‘19) won the women’s long jump with a 3.97 meter jump. Also, Grace Hearth (‘21) won first place in the women’s 60 meter dash, and MIAA athlete of the week Erin Goggins (‘19) won the 200 meter sprint.
On the men’s side, Tim Minier (‘21) won the men’s 60 and 200-meter dash races, along with the title of MIAA athlete of the week. Jacob Wildenhaus (‘20) took first place in the 60-meter hurdles event. The men’s 4×400 team took first place, with an explosive finish from Jared Fleming (‘19).
“The Jack Skoog Open was a nice transition for us from break to the start of weekly competitions,” said Goggins.
“We looked good and I’m excited to see what we can do in the MIAA this year,” said Goggins.
“It was a very positive step forward. We had four days of organized practice so it was good to see where everyone was at coming out of break,” said Matt Chovanec, head coach of the Track and Field team.
As for the two athletes who were awarded athlete of the week, Goggins and Minier were both honored by the MIAA.
“I put in the work over Christmas break to be able to start the season strong like this and I’m pleased to have my hard work recognized by the MIAA,” said Goggins.
“It’s the first time I have been noticed as an MIAA athlete beyond the reports coach sends out from the meets,” said Minier.
“It was well deserved. It was cool to see their work pay off,” said Chovanec.
Now the team looks forward to the rest of the season and the upcoming events, including personal goals for individual athletes.
“I will always strive for faster times in my races and hopefully I’ll break a school record or two,” said Minier.
“My goals are to beat my personal records in pole vault, my long time event, and triple jump, which I have just begun to learn,” said Goggins.
“I also want to continue to focus on being a good leader and teammate,” said Goggins, “This is my last season and I aim on giving it everything I have.”
