Pair of invites pave the road ahead for track

This weekend Columbia track and field will begin its outdoor season. The team is competing on dual fronts, with the distance squad heading to Princeton, N.J. Friday night for the Sam Howell Invitational, and middle distance and sprints trekking to Philadelphia for the University of Pennsylvania Invitational. Sophomore Sharay Hale will run her first outdoor 400m after taking the Ivy title and qualifying for the NCAA Indoor Championships in that event.

Sam Howell will be opportune for many to run solid outdoor debuts. On the men’s side, the 1500m should be the marquee event, with sophomore Kyle Merber coming off of a spectacular indoor season that saw him take the Ivy record at one mile in 3:58.52. Merber will be joined by classmate Jeff Moriarty, who is currently rebounding from a limited indoor season due to injury, but saw major success in the 800m outdoors last spring. Senior Serita Lachesis will represent the women in that event after a successful indoor season of her own, and both teams will field a number of competitors at 5k.

“This weekend, we’re just kind of shaking out the cobwebs,” assistant coach Zach Richard said, adding, “A lot of people made huge progress indoors. This will be a benchmark for their current fitness.”

The Penn meet will feature full squads at 800m and below. The women’s sprint contingent, which dazzled indoors, will be in full effect. Sophomore Kyra Caldwell is set to compete in her first 400m hurdles outdoors with a slew of others. The 200m will feature freshman Dora Vegvari. The team will also compete in relay events, namely the 4x400m and 4x800m. On the field, sophomore Monique Roberts will return to the high jump after an indoor season that saw her qualify for NCAAs, and freshman QueenDenise Okeke and sophomore Uzunma Udeh will compete in the long jump and triple jump, respectively.

More than anything else, this opening weekend will serve to acclimate the Lions to competition outdoors, as many athletes are running off-distance events. Nonetheless, qualifying standards to the East Regional meet are a goal and realistic consideration.

The Lions return to competition in North Carolina next weekend, and an additional meet—for which the focus will be more specialized—will be held Princeton in two weeks.