“This was a bit of a funky meet, because it got moved up a day,” said senior hurdler Kevin McGuirk from Front Royal, Va. “Originally it was supposed to be Friday or Saturday, but due to the rain that was being forecasted, the meet got moved up to Thursday and Friday. Overall, we had fun and it was a good meet for everyone. I can’t speak for everyone else, but I’m definitely looking forward to conference now.”
There were several notable performances for Dallas, with personal records being broken by several of the Crusaders. McGuirk re-set the school record and had a new personal best in the 400-meter hurdles, with a time of 56.41 seconds. This is the fourth meet in a row that McGuirk has broken the school record in this event. Not only did he set a personal record in the 400 meter hurdles, but he also had a personal best in the 110-meter hurdles, with a time of 17.22 seconds. Freshman Kai Warner from Lawrenceville, Ga., set a personal record in the 100-meter dash, with a time of 12.63.
The standout performance of the day, however, came from women’s side for Dallas. Freshman Anna Wilgenbusch from St. Paul, Minn., had an outstanding meet, breaking the school record in the 5000-meter run by more than 10 seconds. She finished with a time of 18:54.61, which put her in 5th place for the meet. Also, Wilgenbusch set a personal record in the 1500-meter run, with a time of 5:06.20 that placed her 4th among all the NCAA Division-III athletes competing.
“Breaking the school record was an incredible experience this weekend,” Wilgenbusch said about her excellent performance. “A sub-19 minute 5k was certainly a long term goal of mine, but I really did not expect to break it this weekend. I would contribute my success on Friday to rigorous training in the past two weeks, the hard competition at the meet, and having my parents there to cheer me on.”
Along with Wilgenbusch’s breakout day, there were other standout performances on the women’s side for Dallas. Junior Mary Korth from McKinney, Texas, recorded a personal best in the 1500-meter run, with a time of 5:34.15 and also in the 5000-meter run, with a time of 21:24.15. Sophomore Hannah Green from Mission Viejo, Calif., notched a season best in pole vault, with a height of 2.95 meters. Sophomore Clare Hernandez from Dade City, Fla., set a personal record in the 5000-meter run with a time of 20:32.20, along with a personal best in the 1500-meter run, recording a time of 5:35.52.
“We have been pushing ourselves during practices, and that is being reflected in the success of our races,” Wilgenbusch said. “I can’t wait to see what we can do the rest of the season.”
After a very productive weekend, the Crusaders prepare for their final meet of the season at the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Championships, which will be hosted by Trinity University on April 26 and 27 in San Antonio, Texas.
