Darion Lopez pictured at the MAAC Championship after beating the school record in the 200 meter race, only to break it again the following day.
@JASPERSXCTF / INSTAGRAM
Laili Shahrestani, Features Editor
This past weekend, the Manhattan University track and field teams participated in the MAAC Championship, where athletes not only brought home multiple first-place titles, but even broke school records. The championship began on Feb. 22, and took place at The Armory, an indoor track and field facility located in Washington Heights.
The men’s team ended up placing fourth overall at the end of the championship, while the women’s team placed ninth. Throughout both teams, a number of athletes individually scored gold within their divisions and were also able to achieve new personal records.
Darion Lopez, a senior at MU and a sprinter on the men’s track and field team broke the school record during the 200-meter race not once, but twice during the championship. On day one of the event, Lopez finished at 21.61 seconds. Moving on to day two, he broke his own record again, finishing at 21.60 seconds, which now stands as the new school record. In addition, Lopez also set another school record during the 60-meter race at the Giegengack Invitational on Feb. 15, finishing at 6.84 seconds.
Lopez spoke about how he went into the MAAC Championship with a positive attitude and performed to the best of his ability. He mentioned how he knew he wanted to run fast this tournament and just give it his all.
“I didn’t really expect this to happen, but it was awesome. It just felt electric,” Lopez said. “I knew I wanted to run fast going into the MAAC Championship, so I just kind of went out there and ran as hard as I could in the first round. I looked up at the clock and saw the time and that was something that I got really excited about.”
Lopez explained that a part of why he was able to perform so successfully was due to new training methods he has incorporated into his routine. He mentioned how he has been speeding time practicing in the pool, which he says has helped him be able to reach new limits during his races. This new training technique was introduced to Lopez after he spent a lot of last season injured. This new method serves as a modified approach to training in an efficient and safe manner.
“Last year, I was getting injured a lot,” Lopez said. “So this year, we kind of took a different approach and started utilizing pool workouts. I’ve been doing a lot of pool training for speed work, so that I don’t really injure myself as much. I’ve been doing modified workouts, rather than what the majority of the team has been doing. I think it really has been helping.”
In addition to Lopez’s record-breaking performances, other athletes have also had standout achievements where they accomplished beating their personal goals and won several other awards at the MAAC Championship.
Theodore Lodge, a freshman and a jumper on the men’s track and field team at MU was labeled Field Rookie of the Meet, which is an award handed out to the top performing first-year athletes within a field event.
Not only did Lodge get to bring home a new title, but he also landed himself a silver medal and was runner-up in the men’s triple jump. Lodge spoke about how this was a monumental moment for him because the jump that allowed him to place second also served as a personal record for him.
“The jump that gave me silver was a PR, so I guess that was a personal achievement for me,” Lodge said. “Honestly, it was just a great experience to have, especially as a freshman. That was my first MAAC Championship. I didn’t know what it was like, so it was a great experience to have.”
Although this was Lodge’s first time competing at the MAAC Championship alongside other MU track and field athletes, he mentioned how the team never fails to uplift and motivate one another on and off the field. Lodge spoke about how although track and field can come off as an individualistic sport, there is actually a great team aspect to it as well.
“Sometimes track and field can be seen only as an individual sport, because at the end it’s just you. But, you are always around people who are exactly like you,” Lodge said. “Sure, there is friendly banter, you want to beat them, they want to beat you, but at the end of the day, you want to do good for the whole team. There is a big team aspect to track and field. And I think that’s what really pushes us to be better.”
While there were many accomplishments carried out during this past weekend’s MAAC Championship, Kerri Inman, the director and coach of the MU track and field team expressed how the athletes are better than a fourth and ninth place title. Inman spoke about how the track and field team has been faced with several injuries and illnesses leading up to the championship, hence why the overall placements may not have been as high as expected.
With that said though, Inman also explained that although the final placements were not ideal, there was still an abundance of individual accomplishments and first-place wins by several athletes, which is what she is really honing in on.
“The men’s team was picked for fourth, and I expressed to the team that we should be offended by that because we’re better than that,” Inman said. “We had a rough stretch of some injuries and illnesses. So, that team finish was really tough. I already knew that we would be a little bit short staffed, so I let the other coaches know that we’re going to celebrate every small win, and the men’s team was able to compensate and fill in some of those gaps from the final placements.”
Inman mentioned how regardless of the end placements, the MAAC Championship was a historical moment for MU, with an abundance of wins from both the men’s and women’s track and field teams. On opening day alone, Jasper athletes took home three golds.
“We had two event winners on the men’s side, and we had one on the women’s side,” Inman said. “We had two silvers on the men’s side and a bronze on the men’s side, which was perfect. And then, also on the men’s side, we had the Rookie of the Meet award for Theodore. And then, also Darion beating the school record both days. It’s great.”