Indoor Track & Field Competes at Centennial Conferences
Jaeger Center (Aly Wein/The Gettysburgian)
By David Goldman, Staff Writer
The Bullets’ indoor track and field team headed east this past weekend to Collegeville, Pennsylvania, where Ursinus College held the Centennial Conference championships. Both the men’s and women’s teams had successful outings, with team members of all ages stepping up on the biggest stage.
To begin, the women took home eighth place in the overall team standings. They were led by rookie sensation Lauren DiOttavio ’25, who came in third place in the 60-meter dash and secured the second-fastest time in Gettysburg history at 8.11 seconds. The first year also set the program’s eighth-best time in the 200-meter dash, running a 27.34. Other standout performers included Lily Morrell ’23, who took home ninth place in both the 200-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles, recording times that ranked sixth and ninth-best, respectively, in program history. Morrell was not satisfied yet though, as she competed in the 4×400 meter relay later in the day and led her team to a 4:15.81 time, which ranks eighth-best in Gettysburg history.
On the field side of things, Anna Plenkos ’22 finished in fifth in the high jump event after jumping 4-7.75, and Jess Alessi ’22 secured fourth in the weight throw with a 43-8.5, coming just shy of her personal best. In the high jump and pole vault events, Alexa Schauder ’24 came in sixth and seventh place respectively.
The men saw similar success in Collegeville, also receiving major contributions from their underclassmen. Aidan Kiernan ’25 just missed a top-three finish in the 60-meter dash, coming in fourth place with a time of 7.21 that is tied for fifth-best in program history. Kiernan also went on to a fifth-place finish in the 200-meter dash with a 23.33 mark. Eric Liedtka ’23 gave the Bullets another fourth-place finish when he posted a 9.05 in the 60-meter hurdles and led two different relay teams to fifth and sixth place. On the high jump mat, Matt Weller ’22 tied for sixth after jumping 5-8. Will Hopkins ’22 came in tenth in the 800-meter, and Caden Giordano ’23 received two tenth place finishes in the long jump and triple jump. The men’s team came in ninth in the overall team standings.
Gettysburg track and field now switches its attention to the spring after ending the indoor season on a positive note.
