WASHINGTON – When the American University track team took on the weekend at two different events–the Fasttrack National Invitational on Friday and the David Hemery Valentine Invitational Friday and Saturday–, Fernando Ibarra ended up setting a new school record in the men's indoor 200m sprint. The freshman's time of 22.59s tops the performance list for the event, besting a 21-year-old record. There were also 22 PRs amongst the squad and five Eagles' performers updates to the school's top-10 lists.

• The weekend started out hot; on Friday morning in Boston, junior June Mwaniki set the tone by setting a personal record and putting herself in the 8-spot on the school's top-10 all-time list with her finish in the 5000m at 17:49.65
• In the women's 3000m run, all four athletes that went the distance set personal bests. Rachael Potter shaved 13 seconds off her previous best at her race in Boston while teammates Skyler Tatum, Brooke Evans, and Annie Ripol all set their own records on Staten Island. Tatum's time was 25 seconds faster than her previous best.
• In the men's 3000m, sophomore Danny O'Neill and freshman Jack Chandler both set PRs in the event.
• The men's and women's mile events both saw even more personal records set. On the women's side, Rowe Crawford and Kate Riley, 23rd and 42nd respectively, added to the long list of Eagles that boasted improvements in the final event before the Patriot League Championships while fellow freshman Carver Morgan joined them from the men's side.
• Two Eagles earned personal bests in the women's 800m run. Grace Kirk, who came 10th overall and Cassandra Daniele who finished 39th were both able to set their own records in the event.
• In the women's 400m dash, freshman Jessica Bakas got a PR for herself (1:04.15) and coming in 62nd overall in a large field of competition at the Ocean Breeze Complex.
• Freshmen Owen Garret was another young performer who bested himself this weekend when he earned a PR in the men's 400m dash with his 55.94s finish.
• In the women's 200m dash, sophomore Neev Agarwal shaved enough off her previous time in the even to earn herself a PR when she came across the line in 29.01s
• Fellow sprinter Chloee Dotts, a freshman, ran with Agarwal in the 200m, crossing the line in 26.30, only two tenths of a second slower than the time that earned her the second spot on the top-10 list in the event. Dotts also put herself third on the schools top-10 list in the 60m dash when she finished the race in 8.09s.
• Friday's events ended on a high note when freshman sprinter Ibarra was in the sixth lane in his heat for the 200m sprint. Ibarra's time of 22.59s earned him a top place in the American record books, setting a new school record. He was already in second place on the list after the Bison Opener at Bucknell in December.
• On Saturday it was the men's team left in Boston that had yet to hit the track, and in the mile was Nathan Reeves, Tucker Zullo, and Oscar Counsell. The three Eagles decided they wanted in on the personal record action and each set personal bests in the race.  
• The men's 3000m event saw Sean Stuck and Alex Murphy racing. Stuck, bested his own PR in the distance by six seconds when he crossed the line in 8:32.82 and Alex Murphy nearly matched his best, missing out by fractions of a second.
• And in the 5000m, to wrap up the weekend, was Row Sullivan in a late-night race. The senior distance runner set a personal best by a second and reaffirmed their spot at number nine on American's top-10 performers list.

QUOTES FROM COACH GRAHAM
"We had a pretty good showing this weekend. There were some big performances we were shooting for, some of which we fell a little short of, but we still had numerous PRs and impressive races.

"Fernando Ibarra set a big PR breaking the 20-year-old, 200m school record. June Mwaniki and Rachael Potter had banner days in the 5k and 3k with great racing, producing big PRs. Nathan Reeves raced very aggressively in a tactical mile race, just missing the win in his heat and, Kaden Kluth continues to push his competitors, leading his heat of the 800m nearly wire to wire for the win.
 
"We've got two weeks to sharpen a few things up before the indoor Patriot League Championships. The team has an impressive indoor regular season and are looking good to close it off even better at Navy in the Championships."

AU RESULTS

EVENT (Fasttrack Invite)	RESULTS
60m Dash, Women	25. Chloee Dotts, 8.09 | 29. Neev Agarwal, 8.86
200m Dash, Women	20. Chloee Dotts, 26.30 | 72. Neev Agarwal, 29.01 (PR)
200m Dash, Men	20. Fernando Ibarra, 22.59 (PR)* | 75. Brian Gutro, 24.58
400m Dash, Women	49. Chloee Dotts, 1:02.73 | 54. Cassandra Daniele, 1:03.62 | 62. Jessica Bakas, 1:04.15 (PR) | 73. Kirah Tianga, 1:05.93 | 78. Eva Gibson, 1:08.75 (PR) | 79. Tori Maignan, 1:09.81
400m Dash, Men	70. Brian Gutro, 54.37 | 78. Owen Garrett, 55.94 (PR)
800m Run, Women	10. Grace Kirk, 2:20.62 (PR)* | 14. Callia Cordasco, 2:21.72 | 25. Lucia Ianello, 2:24.52 | 39. Cassandra Daniele, 2:28.43 (PR) | 48. Kelsey Miskimins, 2:31.47
Mile Run, Women	23. Rowe Crawford, 5:16.63 (PR) | 42. Kate Riley, 5:26.33 (PR) | 51. Hannah Schwab, 5:33.96
Mile Run, Men	12. Cooper Michaud, 4: 17.34 (PR) | 14. Carver Morgan, 4:18.73 (PR)
3000m Run, Women	8. Skyler Tatum, 10:27.50 (PR) | 19. Brooke Evans, 10:45.19 (PR) | 22. Annie Ripol, 10:53.12 (PR)
3000m Run, Men	34. Danny O'Neill, 8:59.64 (PR) | 63. Jack Chandler, 9:37.93 (PR)
Distance Medley Relay, Women	4. Riley, Tianga, Kirk, Cordasco, 12:51.08

 
 

EVENT (Valentine Invite)	RESULTS
800m Run, Men	39. Kaden Kluth, 1:51.42 | 112. Ethan Puc, 1:54.11
Mile Run, Men	135. Nathan Reeves, 4:08.74 (PR)* | 222. Oscar Counsell, 4:13.32 (PR) | 241. Tucker Zullo, 4:14.40 (PR)
3000m Run, Women	205. Rachael Potter, 10:13.31 (PR)
3000m Run, Men	218. Sean Stuck, 8:32.82 (PR) | 231. Alex Murphy, 8:37.93
5000m Run, Women	22. June Mwaniki, 17:49.65 (PR)*
5000m Run, Men	119. Row Sullivan, 14:26.94 (PR)*

NEXT UP
The Eagles have another bye-week before they take to the track at the Patriot League Indoor Championships Feb. 25-26, hosted by Navy in Annapolis, Md.
 
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