The Butler track and field team competed in two meets in two different states last weekend and recorded two new school records and multiple strong finishes.

Photo courtesy of Dustin Livesay

Two Butler records fell at Indiana University’s Polytan Invitational.

Freshman Nicole Hudec broke her own school record in the triple jump again with a leap of 35-10—good for fifth place.

Hudec then teamed with sophomore Maddie Cassidy and freshmen Kelly Davidson and Bria Booker in the 400-meter relay. The quartet’s time of 50.30 was good for a new school record and fifth place overall.

Hudec also took fifth place in the women’s long jump while freshman Kodi Mullins clocked a fifth-place time of 9:16.84 in the men’s steeplechase.

At the Mount Sac Relays in Walnut, Calif., the Bulldogs’ distance team had another impressive showing, this time led by assistant coach Mason Cathey.

Cathey finished runner-up in the women’s invitational elite steeplechase, and her time of 9:48.67 was the fastest by an American woman this year.

In the women’s 1500-meter run, junior Kirsty Legg clocked a time of 4:21.32 to finish fourth in her section and 12th of 124 finishers.

Freshman Mara Olson’s time of 4:32.43 was good for ninth place in her section, and junior Kaitlyn Love’s time of 4:32.43 gave her a 14th-place finish in her section.

On the men’s side, freshman Tom Curr posted an eighth-place overall finish in the 1500-meter run, finishing in a time of 3:45.98.

Sophomore Ross Clarke placed sixth in his section of the event, clocking a time of 3:50.13.

The team will compete at home Friday in the Stan Lyons Invitational.

The Butler track and field team sent competitors to the Miami Invitational and Stanford Invitational over the weekend.

At the Miami Invitational, which was hosted by Miami of Ohio in Oxford, Ohio, Butler grabbed three individual titles, as well as a handful of top-10 finishes.

On the women’s side, junior Kirsty Legg won the 1500-meter run in a time of 4:27.63.

Legg defeated Miami of Ohio redshirt senior Kelley Miller by six-hundredths of a second. Juniors Kaitlyn Love and Shelbi Burnett finished in sixth and seventh place, respectively, in the same event for the Bulldogs.

Legg also took fifth place in the women’s 800-meter run with a time of 2:12.85.

Rounding out the distance events for the women, senior Rebecca Howarth grabbed third place in the women’s 5000-meter run, posting a time of 17:27.26.

For the sprinters, Butler’s 4×100-meter relay team of sophomore Maddie Cassidy and freshmen Nicole Hudec, Kelly Davidson and Bria Booker came in ninth place with a time of 50.03.

Hudec also finished in fifth place in the triple jump with a leap of 35-5 3/4, breaking her own school record yet again.

Led by freshman Tom Curr and senior Madison Roeder, Butler’s men also came home with a few top-10 finishes.

Curr won the men’s 1500-meter run in a time of 3:47.46 and was followed closely by Butler alumnus Kris Gauson (second in 3:49.02) and Butler assistant coach Andrew Sherman (third in 3:50.65). Redshirt sophomore Craig Jordan took fifth place in the event.

Roeder recorded a first-place finish in the men’s 5000-meter run, topping a field of 34 other athletes and clocking a time of 14:34.92.

Sophomore Mick Wang took 10^th place in the 110-meter high hurdles and sixth place in the high jump.

The men’s squad finished sixth of 14 teams and the women took eighth place out of 18 teams.

Sophomore Ross Clarke and freshman Mara Olson traveled to California for the Stanford Invitational Friday.

Olson finished in 14^th place in the 1500-meter run, clocking a time of 4:40.94.

Clarke competed in the 5000-meteer run, but he was unable to finish the event.

Butler will visit Terre Haute for the Pacesetter Invitational Saturday.

School records, meet records and league records—the Butler track and field team has recorded them all this season.

The trend continued this past weekend at the Horizon League Indoor Championships in Youngstown, Ohio.

Although neither the men (fourth) nor the women (third) were able to capture a team title, individuals on both sides had strong performances.

Butler’s distance squad made a splash, breaking multiple records and setting personal ones.

Freshman Mara Olson finished runner-up in the 800-meter run, completing the race in 2:13.13.

Olson’s time was just seconds slower than the Horizon League record, which was set by Butler junior Kirsty Legg in 2009.

Photo courtesy of Dustin Livesay

The Butler women also swept the mile with Legg winning, junior Katie Clark taking second place and Olson grabbing third.

“We were really pleased,” Clark said. “I think the girls really ran well, and it was really nice to be a part of it.”

Clark also won the 3,000-meter  and 5,000-meter runs in league-record times.

“I made a deal with myself that this was the end of my season, and I was giving it what I had left,” Clark said.

The women’s distance medley relay team, composed of Legg, Olson, junior Kaitlyn Love and sophomore Maddie Cassidy, clocked a time of 11:35.83, winning the event and breaking the facility, Horizon League and Butler records.

“Overall, I thought we performed at a really high level on both sides,” coach Matt Roe said. “If you look at the marks, there are lots of records.”

On the men’s side, freshman Tom Curr won the 800-meter run in a time of 1:50.67, topping the facility record by nearly three seconds and barely missing a league record.

The 800 was not the only event Curr performed well in, though.

In the one-mile run, Curr, sophomore Ross Clarke, sophomore Craig Jordan and redshirt freshman Harry Ellis crossed the line in first through fourth places, sweeping the event.

Clarke also won the men’s 3,000-meter run in a Horizon League record time of 8:16.50.

“We’d really been hit with a lot of injuries before the championships, which meant added pressure for the distance runners to compete in several events,” Clarke said. “If we’re fit and healthy for outdoor conference, we will definitely improve.”

Butler’s success continued in the men’s 5,000-meter run, where sophomore Callum Hawkins recorded a time of 14:15.55 for another Horizon League record.

The men’s distance medley relay team of Ellis, Clarke, sophomore Andrew Wallace and freshman Connor Love later won their race, falling just short of both the facility and league records.

“The hard training we do every day enables us to maintain fitness post-season,” Clarke said. “It keeps us ready to embark on achieving next season’s goals as well.”

In the field events, freshman Nicole Hudec placed eighth in the triple jump and ninth in the long jump.

Freshman Bria Booker took eighth place in the women’s pentathlon for the Bulldogs.

In the men’s field events, sophomore Nigel Spears took fifth in long jump and sophomore Mick Wang placed sixth in the heptathlon.

All of the Butler women’s 82 points and 80 of the men’s 89 were scored in distance events.

“One of our program’s goals is to have everyone perform best at the championship event,” Roe said. “As well as we performed at the indoor championships, we want to be even better at outdoors.”

While most of the Bulldogs have completed their indoor season, a handful of Butler athletes will head to Notre Dame this weekend for the Alex Wilson Invitational.

The meet is the last chance for runners to post national-qualifying times.

The meet will be run over two days with running events beginning at 5 p.m. on Friday.