On Saturday, Apr. 1 the Muhlenberg track and field team competed right in their own backyard, Scotty Wood Stadium, in their second track meet of the outdoor season. After coming off of a successful indoor track season with multiple record breaks, Muhlenberg all-time top 10 performances, and regional qualifiers, the Mules kept this momentum going by continuing their strong start to the outdoor season.
John Panny ‘23 scored first-place finishes in both the long jump and the triple jump. “I am extremely pleased with the team’s performance this past weekend–not only in the sense that everyone competed hard and well but more importantly in our overall enthusiasm surrounding the home meet. I think that these two aspects worked in tandem for our team producing one of our best statistical outputs in a long time. Seeing the end results of where everyone finished was really awesome and quite frankly, rewarding” remarked Panny.
The team’s hard work and enthusiasm were emphasized by the impressive results. One highlight was Dylan DeMagistris ‘24, who broke his own school record in the hammer throw and qualified for regionals in the discus while coming in second place. Other first-place performances came from Sam McDonough ‘24 in the 110m hurdles and Shira Gamson ‘26 in the triple jump, who now holds the third spot on the Muhlenberg all-time performance list in the women’s triple jump. In addition, Russell Neuwirth ‘23 qualified for regionals in the 100m and scored the seventh position on the Muhlenberg all-time performance list for the event. Neuwirth even qualified for regionals a second time in 4×100 along with Trevor Hitchcock ‘24, Josh Castro ‘25 and JP Nye ‘23, who collectively came in third place in the relay.
Another standout was Noel House’s ‘24 first-place finish, “I would say a top highlight all around was seeing Noel in his performance that was number one in the nation, which will likely qualify him for nationals in his first meet this season. It just shows all the work that he put in during the off-season and how strong he is as an athlete. I think it really adds to just like us getting excited for the season,” said Team Captain Adrienne Ellison ‘23.
This excitement is likely to pay off as the team rolls into the rest of the season and gets ready to compete in the Centennial Conference finals. “We want to perform higher in conferences than we did in indoor, and we think we could do that if we just focus on where they can be used the most effectively,” stated Ellison. This is a very reasonable goal, given that, as Panny exclaimed, “The team’s overall focus, dedication and desire to succeed is the highest it has been since I have been here. While I cannot definitively predict our team’s performance come conferences, I fully believe that we will be blowing others’ expectations out of the water–including our own.” After an extremely successful home meet, the Muhlenberg track and field team is ready to continue the hard work that led them to their achievements over the weekend. More accomplishments are likely to follow going into the rest of the season and in the upcoming conference meet.
