Tuesday, February 9th, 2016 | sports@technewsiit.com E! ::E :E El 7

IIT Track and Field competes at UW-Parkside Invitational

Genevieve Hummel
TECHN EWS WRITER

The Illinois Tech Track and Field
team had their first meet on Saturday January
16‘ At that time, the team was very small and
the coaches were new to Illinois Techs Since
then, the team has grown significantly in
number and has competed in two more meetsi
The second meet was the UWeParkside Green
and White Invitational on Saturday, January
30, where the women’s track and field team
placed fifth and the men’s track and field team
placed seventhi On the women’s team, Taylor
Schaub won the high jump with a mark of
147m, Vanessa Arraiz placed seventh in the
weight throw with a mark of 770m, and two
athletes finished the 55m dash with times
under 9‘00s: Kristen Robinson with 8‘82s and

    

Illinois Tech competes at UChicago Windy City Invitational

‘ l,

 
    

  

IITfi'fii'v'lE

III’IIA'I'E

Marina Eraas with 896st On the Men’s team,
Cole Dammeier won the 3000m event with a
time of 9:3248, Demis Thomas placed fifth in
the 300m at 3902s and eighth in the 55m at
693st John Xavier placed seventh in the 55m
with a time of 691st Quentin ShipleyeMellon
placed seventh in the mile with a time of
5:0834, and Joseph Yassim placed sixth in the
shot put with a throw of 1287m

The men’s and women’s track and
field teams had a very late start to the season
However, things are really improving and the
team is coming together and growing Coaches
Keith Burke and Nick Schneigert have been
working with the team for less than a month,
but both are very excited about the future of the
track and fieldteams here at Illinois Techs Coach
Keith Burke said, “taking over this program
mideyear has been a very challenging blessing

Women's Basketball
@ Mount Mary
6 pm.

Men's Basketball
@ Rockford
7 pm.

Swimming and Diving
@ Principia College
TBA

for us as a team The hard work and dedication
the athletes are putting forth every morning in
practice is translating into some great success
on the track I am really looking forward to our
program’s continued growth?’ Both coaches are
very encouraged by the continued progress of
individual athletes as well as the progress of
the team as a whole Coach Nick Schneigert
noted, “our program is experiencing a bit of a
culture change right now The coaching staff
hired here has a background of winning and
an extensive background We want our athletes
to be champions in the classroom, champions
on the track and the cross country course, and
champions in life We expect our athletes to
be successful, but we understand student first
and athlete second so we need to work with
them as much as possible" He continued to
say, “we are the Stanfords, the Dukes, and the

Men's Volleyball
@ St. )(aiver
7 pm.

Swimming and Diving
@ Principia College
TBA

 

Women's Track and Field
@ Illinois Tech
5 pm.

Northwesterns of small schools since we are
a top tier academic institution just like them
And those same academic focused schools
have excelled in sports I believe with good
recruiting and the development of our current
athletes, in particular the ofi’ season training
which is vital to collegiate track and field, we
can be very successfiili The current coaching
staff are local Chicagoland coaches and we
plan to stick around for a long time to develop
this program to better heightsi We are familiar
with the Chicagoland XC/track and field
community and we believe we have something
special growing here?’ The coaches, as well as
every member of the team, are excited to see
where this team goes as everyone continues to
work hard to improve their marks and excel in
their events

Phntns 17y Genevieve Hummel

I

  

Phntns 17y Genevieve H ummel

Swimming and Diving
@ Principia College
TBA

Men's Track and Field
@ Illinois Tech
10 am.

Men's Basketball
vs. UC Santa Cruz
1 pm.