Ethan Spozarski - The Yellow Jacket Waynesburg University’s track and field teams competed int their first outdoor meet of the season.
The teams traveled to Morgantown over the weekend kicking off their outdoor season by hosting the Marty Pushkin Invitational hosting schools from divisions I, II, and III.
Junior thrower Jacob Harker had two victories in the shot put and discus, and ninth place in the hammer throw. While Junior Kyle Casella placed fifth in the 400-meter hurdles, Noah Jones finished 10th place in the long jump.
Smith said his takeaway from this first meet of the season is to work on his focus.
“The key take away from the meet was that I need to focus more on my technique than trying to power through each of my throws and to stay calm while under pressure, said Smith
On the women’s side, junior Rylie Baker finished in 12th place in Discus while sophomore Gabrielle Chico finished 12th place in shot put and had two lifetime PRs set in Discus.
Chico said that the way she prepared and got ready for this invitation was simply one word, consistency.
“I prepared for this invitational by staying consistent in the weight room and really focusing on building my strength, power, and explosiveness for throwing”, Chico said.
Chico also said what her goals were going into this invitational.
“Going into this invitational, I was hoping to place well and put myself in a competitive position, but more than anything, I wanted to go out and perform at my best and see my hard work pay off,” Chico said.
Chico explained too what she believed the biggest challenge transitioning from indoor to outdoor competition.
“I think the biggest challenges for me during this invitational was transitioning from indoor to outdoor season is its a different environment, different conditions, and it takes some adjusting both physically and mentally,” Chico said.
Other Waynesburg lady yellow Jackets who had impressive day were juniors Natalie Double, Ella Rishell, along with freshmen Adaire Settles and Erin Belveal.
Double finished in second in the javelin. Rishell finished in the top 10 in two events fourth place in distance triple jump and a ninth-place lead in the long jump. Settles placed fifth in 400-meter hurdles and Belveal 25th place in 1,500 meters.
Waynesburg University track and field teams continue their season next Saturday as they will be in action on the March 28 in West Liberty. Meet is set to start in the morning with the field events.