TechRunsAroundChicago News

Top Performances at IBU Eagle Invite

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 14:54:52 -0500

IIT athletes turned in season-high performances on Saturday. Several season bests, personal records and TRAC records were achieved. Newcomer Erin Pedersen broke existing Women’s records in the 200m and 400m in her collegiate T&F debut. Oba Vincent set a new 10,000m time for the Men and Stephanie Lucas re-set her record in the 1500m. Kevin Acacio marked personal bests in the 1500m and the 800m. Ed Aramayo (800m, 1500m), Kyle Koning (HJ, 110HH), and Dan Oh (5000m) all narrowly missed setting new TRAC records in their events.

Scoring points for the Women were Erin Pedersen (5th-400m), Stephanie Lucas (5th-1500m), Lisa Nielsen (7th-1500m), and the 4x400m Relay (8th place) team of Pedersen, L. Nielsen, Jeffcoat, and Lucas. The women totaled 12 points for a 13/19 finish.

On the Men’s side Ed Aramayo (3rd-800m, 4th-1500m), Dan Oh (2nd-5000m), Oba Vincent (8th-10,000m), and Kyle Koning (2nd-HJ, 6th-110HH) totaled 31 points for a 10/19 finish.

Stiff Competition at Chicagoland Championships

Sun, 6 Apr 2008 22:21:33 -0500

A large field of competitors from 22 Chicagoland schools made point-scoring for IIT quite difficult at the Chicagoland Championships on 4/5/08. Despite excellent efforts by all, only Stephanie Lucas (5000m) gained points for the women and Kyle Koning (HJ) for the men.

Lucas also set a new record in the 5000m, besting the old mark by just over 50 seconds.

Outdoor Season Opens at Ted Haydon Invite

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 17:40:24 -0500

TRAC opened the 2008 Track & Field outdoor season at the University of Chicago’s brand-new Ted Haydon Track. The 40 degree temperatures did not keep IIT’s runners from excelling. The women set two new records, while the men set three: Rachel Hendricks (HJ), Stephanie Lucas (1500m), Wes Villaobos (400m), and Kyle Koning (HJ & LJ*).

Overall, the women were 8th of 9 and the men were 6th of 8. Ed Aramayo (1500m) was IIT’s only individual champion, though points were scored by Kyle Koning, Joe Kirsch, Zak Estrada, Andrew Mehr, Wes Villalobos, Stephanie Lucas, Brooke Jeffcoat, Lisa Nielsen, and Erin Skvorc.

*The LJ Record may be incorrect, further research is required to determine actual current record.

Largest Squad Entry of Year at Margaret Bradley Invite

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 12:42:55 -0600

TRAC brought 22 athletes to compete in the Margaret Bradley Invite, held February 23, 2008 at the Henry Crown Field House on the University of Chicago Campus. The 13 IIT men finished 7th of 10 while the 9 IIT women finished 10th of 11. Point-scorers for the men were Dan Oh (1st - 3000m), Kyle Koning (3rd - High Jump), OB Vincent (5th - 5000m), and the Distance Medley Relay Team of Hugo Ramirez, Vlad Rusz, Nick Williamson, and Zak Estrada (3rd). Bringing in points for the women were the 4x400m Relay Team of Erin Skvorc, Lisa Nielsen, Brooke Jeffcoat, and ------, the Distance Medley Relay Team of ??????, Stephanie Lucas (5th - 3000m), and Brooke Jeffcoat (6th - 800m).

Several personal bests were run, as well as school records set in 1 Mile (Women’s) , High Jump (Men’s), and 5000m (Men’s).

The following has been reposted from the University of Chicago Track and Field Website.

In 2008, the University of Chicago track & field team will host the inaugural Margaret Bradley Invitational. The meet is named in honor of Margaret Bradley, a 2001 University of Chicago graduate with an A.B. in biological sciences and geophysical sciences who went on to enroll in the Pritzker School of Medicine on the Chicago campus in the fall of 2003.

Margaret tragically passed away on July 10, 2004 while hiking in the Grand Canyon at the age of 24. She began the hike with a friend from the south rim of the canyon. My understanding of what happened after that is perhaps not completely accurate, but I would like to share what I have heard.

Sometime during the hike, Margaret’s companion began to feel the affects of the heat. It was 105 degrees when they began hiking, and temperatures along the trail rose in excess of 120 degrees that day.

Margaret was exceptionally fit and training 90 miles a week in preparation for marathons. A few months earlier she was the 31st-place finisher in the Boston Marathon and had realistic hopes of qualifying to the 2008 Olympic trials.

As her friend began struggling from the effects of the heat and after they had run out of water, Margaret decided to separate from him and search for help. She apparently left the main trail and got lost. Her death was determined to be from dehydration and a result of environmental heat exposure.

As an athlete at Chicago, Margaret was a multiple-time All-UAA performer and Midwest All-Region athlete. In 1999 she was named a cross country All-American by finishing 32nd at the NCAA Division III Championship at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh with a lifetime-best time of 17:38.9 on a 5,000-meter course -- the second-fastest time in school history.

Margaret was far more then an exceptional runner and outstanding student. She was also a member of the campus orchestra and someone I would truly describe as a renaissance woman. My memories of Margaret will always be of her pushing herself to higher and higher levels in everything she did.

Her personality was one in which if she made a decision to do something she was going to be her very best at it. That personality and her work ethic are why she achieved so much as an athlete, but also in the classroom.

I would like to thank her parents, Keith and Mary Jo Bradley, along with her brother, Eric, for allowing us to name this meet in her name. Margaret was a special part of our program, and she has truly been missed. This invitational will be an annual event in her name.

- Chris Hall, U. of C. Head Track & Field/Cross Country Coach

National Qualification by Dan Oh

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 15:27:45 -0600

Yesterday at the Indoor Chicagoland Championship, hosted by the University of Chicago, Illinois Tech senior Dan Oh became the first TRAC athlete to qualify for the NAIA Indoor National Track and Field National Championships. Oh ran a time of 8:51.32 in the 3000m race, beating the provisional qualifying mark of 8:54.00 by nearly 3 seconds. Since IIT does not have an official track and field program, Oh will not be permitted to compete in the National Meet.
Oh’s 3000m finish also proved good enough to earn him 5th place in the meet and to break his previous 3000m IIT record. Also scoring for IIT was Kyle Koning, placing 2nd in the High Jump. Illinois Tech’s 4x400m relay team of Aramayo/Villalobos/Koning/Shaughnessy broke the Indoor school record set in 2007. As a team (of only 8 runners) IIT placed 12 out of 19 schools competing in the meet.

Complete Results: Men

Men’s Finishes:
Kevin Acacio - 21/34 (3000m)
Ed Aramayo - 15/53 (800m); 10/11 (4x400m)
Chris Chacakis - 33/42 (1 Mile)
Kyle Koning - 2/16 (High Jump); 17/39 (Long Jump); 9/20 (55m Hurdles); 10/11 (4x400m)
Dan Oh - 5/34 (3000m)
Ciaran Shaughnessy - 35/ (1 Mile); 10/11 (4x400m)
Wes Villalobos - 35/53 (800m); 10/11 (4x400m)
Oba Vincent - 9/34 (3000m)