From Washington University Athletics
The Washington University in St. Louis men's track & field team had six event winners on day two to lead the Bears to the team title at the 2014 University Athletic Association (UAA) Indoor Track & Field Championships hosted by Brandeis University Saturday.
The Washington U. men scored 160 points to win their 13th UAA Indoor Championship and fourth in the last five years. Carnegie Mellon University finished as the runner-up in the men's team standings with 102 points.
Washington University had eight individual champions and 18 all-UAA finishes during Saturday's competition. Junior Drew Padgett posted the 11th-fastest time in NCAA Division III this season to lead a sweep of the top-three spots on the podium for the Washington U. men in the 3,000. It was the only event of the meet that had all three all-UAA finishes swept by one team. Padgett broke the school and UAA records in racing to a winning time of 8:21.99 in the event. His time was more than five seconds better than the previous WUSTL record of 8:27.20 set by Brennan Bonner in 2005, and also bettered the five-year-old UAA record held by New York University's Hany Abdallah by more than five seconds. Senior Elliott Petterson also clocked a career-best time of 8:37.54 to finish as the runner-up, while senior Kevin Sparks took third with a time of 8:37.85.
Sophomore Josh Clark posted the second-fastest time in Washington U. history on his way to winning the men's mile. His time of 4:14.34 was more than five seconds better than his previous season-best, and ranks 20th in NCAA Division III this season. Senior Alan Komorowskialso earned his first-career UAA title, finishing first in the men's 200 with a time of 22.84, while junior James Hallwood placed fourth in 23.16.
The WUSTL men had a pair of all-UAA performances in the 55 hurdles. Freshman Jack MacCarthy clocked a season-best time of 7.88 to win the conference title, while sophomore Alex Arteaga placed third in a time of 8.10. Juniors Troy Makous and Nick Alaniva also posted a pair of all-UAA finishes in the men's pole vault. Makous cleared a career-best height of 4.70m to finish as the runner-up, while Alaniva tied for third with a clearance of 4.55m. Alaniva added a first-place finish in the 55 with a career-best time of 6.49. His time converted to a school-record time of 6.98 for 60 meters, which was .05 better than his WUSTL-record time set last week. Komorowski finished sixth in the 55 with a time of 6.72.
The final event title for the WUSTL men was in the 1,600 relay. Sophomore James Fitzhugh, sophomore Alex Bastian, freshman Deko Ricketts and junior Brendan Stone teamed up to win the event in a time of 3:21.74. Ricketts added a third-place finish in the 800 with a personal-best time of 1:55.04. It was the second-fastest time in school history, bettering his time of 1:55.77 set during Friday's prelims. Bastian finished fourth in the event with a career-best time of 1:56.11, the fourth-fastest time in Washington U. history. Stone added a third-place finish in the 400 with a career-best time of 50.73.