RICHMOND, Va. – The American University men's and women's track teams opened their season at the Richmond Fred Hardy Invitational on Friday (March 21). The squad started the season with eight new top-10 times and several personal bests.

• Senior Danny O'Neill placed second in the 3000m steeplechase with a five-second PR of 9:14.12. He moved up to third all-time for the Eagles. Junior Cooper Michaud ran 9:32.85 in his first time racing the event, good for seventh AU all-time. Freshman Daniel Messer debuted in the event in 9:46.37, nabbing 10th all-time.
• Junior Kirah Tianga led the Eagles in the unseeded section of the 5k, racing the event for the first time in 18:15.58. Sophomore Estella Miller ran a personal best of 18:46.51. In the men's unseeded section, sophomore Jack Chandler PRed by almost a minute, placing ninth in 15:46.45.
• In the women's 1500, senior Lucia Ianello ran a three-second PR of 4:47.94. Freshmen Kara Langbaum and Catherine Hany also ran personal bests in the event, running 4:53.32 and 4:59.27, respectively. In the men's 1500, freshmen Ty Parker and Noah Smith both ran personal bests. Parker placed 13th in 3:57.69, while Smith placed 20th in 3:59.79.
• Sophomore Owen Garrett ran a personal best in the men's 400, finishing 27th in 54.38 seconds.
• Freshman Tamara Dorval and sophomore Ciera Thacker both added their names to the top-10 list in the 100 meters. Dorval now stands at seconds with a time of 12.47 seconds, while Thacker's PR of 12.80 seconds is fourth all-time.
• The women's sprints rewrote the top-10 list in the 200 meters. Freshman Zoe Clark finished the event in 25.37 seconds, good for second all-time. Thacker, coming back from a PR in the 100, ran a fourth all-time mark of 25.96 seconds. Dorval and freshman Lara Gin also added their names to the all-time list, running 26.13 (6th) and 26.52 (9th), respectively.
• All three women in the seeded 5k ran personal bests. Grad student Bryn Underwood led the Eagles in a PR of 17:55.54. Freshman Zoe Rector and junior Sophia Staiger ran PRs of 18:12.34 and 18:22.62.
• Danny O'Neill, coming back from a PR in the 3k steeple, led the Eagles in the seeded 5k with a PR of over a minute, running 14:51.71. Freshmen Jaden Frederick and Jacob West also PRed, running 15:08.06 and 15:52.68, respectively.

Coaches' Corner
"The team had a very solid start to the outdoor season yesterday down in Richmond," said head coach Sean Graham. "It can be a challenge carrying the momentum built in the indoor season and applying it to outdoors right away, and the team did that very well.

"Similar to indoors, we had a lot of PRs and top-five all time marks. Danny O'Neill had an excellent day with the challenging 3k steeple/5k double, knocking down a big PR early in the day then coming back with an even bigger PR in the 5k. Cooper Michaud in his first attempt at the steeple had a good performance for eighth all-time, with easy adjustments that can be made to knock that time down significantly. In the 1500, freshman Ty Parker and Noah Smith had good starts to their outdoor careers with PRs.

"On the women's side, Kirah Tianga started the day off successfully with an aggressive 5k debut finishing with a very good 18:15. In the 1500, Luci, Kara, and Catherine came away with nice PRs after well-executed races. In the later 5k, all three athletes PRed as well, with Bryn and Zoe having big improvements.

"The sprinters had a solid start as well! In the 100, Tamara and Ciera knocked out the second and fourth all-time marks into a headwind. In the 200 we saw excellent racing. Zoe ran away from her heat with second AU all-time and Ciera solidly in fourth all-time. 

"It was an aggressive start to the season and a great way to set us up for the rest of the season."

Next Up
A small crew will head to the Raleigh Relays at NC State next weekend (March 27-29). The rest of the team will prepare for the George Mason Ebanks Invitational on April 4-5.

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AU RESULTS

3000m Steeplechase, Men	2. Danny O'Neill, 9:14.12 (PR)* | 4. Cooper Michaud, 9:32.85 (PR)* | 7. Daniel Messer, 9:46.37 (PR)*
5000m Unseeded, Women	3. Kirah Tianga, 18:15.58 (PR) | 9. Estella Miller, 18:46.51 (PR) | 11. Skyler Tatum, 18:53.28 | 16. Fiona Murphy, 19:47.16 (PR)
5000m Unseeded, Men	9. Jack Chandler, 15:46.45 (PR)
1500m, Women	37. Lucia Ianello, 4:47.94 (PR) | 44. Kara Langbaum, 4:53.32 (PR) | 46. Kate Riley, 4:53.72 | 57. Catherine Hany, 4:59.27 (PR) | 58. Grace Kirk, 5:00.07
1500m, Men	13. Ty Parker, 3:57.69 (PR) | 20. Noah Smith, 3:59.79 (PR)
400m, Men	27. Owen Garrett, 54.38 (PR)
100m, Women	8. Tamara Dorval, 12.49* | 16. Lorelei Bangit, 12.69 | 21. Ciera Thacker, 12.80 (PR)*
100m, Men	7. Jason Omari-Anim, 11.09 | 16. Brandon Williams, 11.40
800m, Women	55. Hannah Puckett, 2:36.46
800m, Men	10. Zack Zerbe, 1:56.57 | 33. Papakojo Danquah, 2:00.48
200m, Women	3. Lorelei Bangit, 25.07 | 7. Zoe Clark, 25.37* | 15. Ciera Thacker, 25.96 (PR)* | 20. Tamara Dorval, 26.13* | 29. Lara Gin, 26.52 (PR)* | 50. Adeline DiPaolo, 27.33
200m, Men	13. Brandon Williams, 22.44 | 32. Malcolm Lewis, 23.26 | 34. Jason Omari-Anim, 23.37 | 41. Toby Khang, 24.56
5000m Seeded, Women	7. Bryn Underwood, 17:55.54 (PR) | 12.  Zoe Rector, 18:12.34 (PR) | 16. Sophia Staiger, 18:22.62 (PR)
5000m Seeded, Men	7. Danny O'Neill, 14:51.71 (PR) | 11. Jaden Frederick, 15:08.06 (PR) | 23. Jacob West, 15:51.68 (PR) | 26. Hayden Hauser, 15:59.65

*Top 10 Record Book Mark