Tulane Cleans Up During First Meet of Indoor Season

Friday, November 30

Birmingham, Ala.

Tulane University

BSC Indoor Icebreaker

Tulane Cleans Up During First Meet of Indoor Season

Nov 30, 2018 | Track & Field

Meet Results

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Tulane track and field team got off to a tremendous start during its indoor season, winning five events and posting 19 top-five finishes at the BSC Indoor Icebreaker at the Birmingham Crossplex.

The Green Wave set five new top-10 marks in program history on their way to a commanding team victory. Tulane scored 147 points as a team, easily beating out second-place Troy's 89 points.

One of two Green Wave athletes who won a field event was Rebekah Markel. The senior cleared 4.00 meters in the pole vault (13-1.5) to score 10 points as Tulane took five of the top six places in the event. Nastja Modic took second place with a clearance of 3.85 meters (12-7.5) in her first collegiate event, tying the seventh-best mark in school history in the process.

Alex Potts, also a freshman, was third with a clearance of 3.70 meters (12-1.5), Rose Brutkiewicz was fifth by clearing 3.55 meters (11-7.75) and Megan Fitzgerald was sixth, also clearing 3.55 meters.

Also winning a field event was first-year jumper Trina Malej in the triple jump. She reached 11.97 meters (39-3.25) on her final jump of the day, bettering her mark of 11.85 meters from her second of six attempts. That mark immediately becomes the 10th-best triple jump indoors in program history. Scoring for the Green Wave as well in the triple jump was Jordyn Lesh with her 10.80 meters for fourth place.

Mckenzie Melius came off a strong cross country season to win the mile race, beating out the second-place finisher by just over a second with a time of 5:08.25 and 10 points for the Green Wave. Jennifer LaMori was fifth in 5:26.51 to score two more Tulane points.

In the 60-meter dash, Aldrianna Dupree made the most of her first college run by qualifying for the finals with a time of 7.69 seconds. In the finals, she bettered that by two-tenths of a second, crossing the finish line in first place with a time of 7.49 to set a meet record and tie for the fourth-fastest time in program history.

Kyah Loyd just missed out on a spot in the finals by three thousandths of a second, taking ninth place in the prelims with a time of 7.736 seconds. The last qualifier for the finals came across the line in 7.733 seconds. Brandi Hughes also had a solid time in the 60, placing 11th in 7.77 seconds.

In the 400, Tulane got yet another victory, this one also from a freshman. New Orleans native Tahja Mitchell raced to a time of 56.46 seconds, beating out the second-place finisher by just five hundredths of a second. In third place was Maya Harewood in 56.94, Hunter Robinson was fourth in 57.32 and Louise Jones was seventh in 58.15. Kyra Ness-Lanckriet took 20th with a time of 1:00.54.

The 60-meter hurdles had a Tulanian scoring points with Jessica Duckett beginning her senior year with a second-place showing in 8.45 seconds to score eight points. Hughes was right behind her for third in 8.58 seconds. Loyd placed sixth in the prelims with a time of 8.72 seconds but did not finish in the finals.

Also running the 60 hurdle prelims was freshman Louise Jones who finished 15th in 9.29 seconds and Pauline Helm who was 23rd in 9.54 seconds.

Tulane racked up more points in the 200-meter dash with Dupree taking second place to go with her first-place finish in the day's shorter sprint. Dupree finished in 24.73 seconds, tying for the ninth-fastest time in school history and earning eight points for Tulane. Harewood was third in 24.85, Mitchell took fourth in 24.85 and Robinson placed fifth in 24.89. Duckett came in seventh with a time of 25.12, and Loyd was also a scorer in eighth place with a time of 25.35. Hughes also competed in the 200, finishing 17th in 25.79.

Emma Newton got the day started with a third-place finish in the 3K, taking six points for the Green Wave with a time of 9:58.05.

Olivia Hicks scored six more points for Tulane in the high jump with her third-place showing, clearing the bar at 1.65 meters (5-5) to put her in sixth place all-time in Tulane history. She cleared 1.50, 1.55 and 1.60 meters on her first try and needed just one extra attempt to get over 1.65. Emma King cleared 1.55 meters for 10th place.

Pauline Helm was one place short of scoring in the long jump, but the sophomore had a solid outing with a distance of 5.32 meters (17-5.50) for a seventh-place finish. She fouled on her first attempt but then reached 5.26 meters on her second, scoring a distance that was good enough to earn her three extra jumps in the finals. Reaching the finals, she went an extra six centimeters on her last jump of the day to reach 5.32 meters and move up one place in the final standings from eighth to seventh.

Helm also took part in the shot put, reaching a distance of 8.28 meters (27-2) on the last of her three throws for a 26th-place finish.

Like Helm in the long jump, Oneke Gwan was one spot away from reaching the finals in her event Friday, placing ninth in the 800. Gwan ran the race in 2:24.05.

With the ice now broken, Tulane will have to chill out again as the indoor season takes a seven-week break. The Green Wave will compete again at the Birmingham Crossplex when the spring semester rolls around on January 18-19 at the Samford Invitational.