The Butler track and field team was once again led by the distance squad—this time at Indiana State’s Pacesetter Invitational in Terre Haute last weekend.

The team posted nearly a dozen top-five finishes in various distance events at the four-team meet, including four first-place showings.

Freshman Tom Curr won the men’s 800-meter run, completing the race in a time of 1:50.57 and breaking the event’s nine-year-old meet record.

Also setting a meet record was sophomore Craig Jordan, whose time of 8:58.84 in the steeplechase was good for a victory and broke a one-year-old best time.

The Bulldogs’ other two first-place finishes came from senior Rebecca Howarth in the women’s 5000-meter run (17:23.72) and junior Shelbi Burnett in the women’s steeplechase (10:47.92).

Burnett followed her steeplechase performance with a third-place finish in the 1500-meter run and was also named the Horizon League Women’s Track Athlete of the Week for April 9 through April 15.

Junior Alyson Fosnot took fifth place in the women’s 5-kilometer run with a time of 17:54.52, and Kevin Oblinger finished third in the men’s steeplechase in 9:19.54.

In the women’s 800-meter run, junior Kirsty Legg took second place, and fellow junior Kaitlyn Love nabbed fifth place.

Redshirt freshman Harry Ellis was the fifth-place finisher in the men’s 1500-meter run with a time of 3:57.73.

In the sprints, freshman Nicole Hudec took fifth place in the 100-meter dash, recording a time of 12.83.

The team will compete next at the Mt. Sac relays in Walnut, Calif., and at the Polytan Invitational in Bloomington this weekend.

The Butler track and field team had another strong showing, this time at the Mike Poehlein Invitational last weekend.

Despite most of the team staying in Indianapolis, some Bulldogs were able to record strong performances.

Freshman Nicole Hudec surpassed Jen Connor’s 14-year old triple jump record of 34-5 1/2 with a leap of 35-0 ¼. The leap gave her a fifth-place finish.

In the distance events, junior Kaitlyn Love placed fourth in the 800-meter run (2:13.24) and third in the 1500-meter run (4:41.04).

Junior Shelbi Burnett made her way to a third-place finish in the women’s steeplechase with a time of 11:08.71. Freshman Mara Olson finished one place behind Burnett with a time of 11:22.66.

Junior Craig Jordan led the men in the steeplechase, posting a race-winning time of 9:20.94. Freshmen Codi Mullins and junior Kevin Oblinger finished third (9:30.45) and fifth (9:35.85) in the race, respectively.

Sophomore Mick Wang and freshman Kelly Davidson just missed top-five finishes in sprint events.

Wang took sixth place in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.28, and Davidson nabbed sixth place in the 100-meter dash, clocking a time of 12.85.

Butler will send Olson and sophomore Ross Clarke out to California for the two-day Stanford Invitational this weekend.

The majority of the Bulldogs will be in Oxford, Ohio, for the Miami of Ohio Invitational Saturday.

Another year, another Horizon League title for both the Butler men’s and women’s cross country teams.

Both Bulldog squads raced in Cleveland for a chance at their respective conference championships on Saturday.

The Butler men won 13 consecutive titles heading into the race, while the Butler women were looking for their ninth title in the last 10 seasons.

The men took home their 14th title in as many seasons with a dominating 37-point victory over second place Loyola.

Sophomore Callum Hawkins continued his impressive season by taking first place honors with a time of 25:43.

Butler took five of the top 10 spots, including first, second and third place, to secure the victory.

Sophomore Ross Clarke ran a 26:06, and freshman Tom Curr ran a 26:10, taking second and third, respectively.

Clarke was coming off a first place finish at the Bradley Classic on Oct. 14.

Junior Kevin Oblinger posted a time of 26:49 to place ninth, and freshman James Martin notched a time of 26:53 for 10th place, rounding out the scoring for the Bulldogs and securing the title.

“We’ve got some room for improvement,” coach Matt Roe said.  “We are looking forward to running two weeks from now at the NCAA regional meet and hoping to be a little bit better.”

The Butler women completed a conference three-peat and took home their ninth title in ten years by placing their top five runners inside the top 10 overall and besting second place Youngstown State by 30 points.

Sophomore Shelbi Burnett turned in an 18:40, besting Loyola junior Gina Valgoi by five seconds for first place honors. Senior Lauren Haberkorn also cracked the top five by finishing fourth for the Bulldogs in a time of 19:24.

Juniors Rebecca Howarth and Kaitlyn Love finished sixth and seventh, respectively, for Butler, with times of 19:35 and 19:37. Junior Alyson Fosnot rounded out the scoring for the women by finishing 10th with a time of 19:44, besting freshman teammate Mara Olson by one second.

“Our women did a great job,” Roe said. “The team commitment and teamwork on the women’s side is very high.”

Next up for both teams is the Great Lakes Regional in Toledo, Ohio, on Nov. 12. The Bulldogs will be looking to qualify for a spot in the NCAA Championships, which will be held Nov. 21 in Terre Haute.

Photo by John Fetcho

The 90-degree heat did not stop the Butler women’s cross country team from scorching its opponents at the season-opening Illini Challenge last Friday.

The women’s team finished on top of the challenge with a score of 16. Purdue finished in second place, tallying 51 points.

The men’s team also had a strong showing. The Bulldogs took second place overall with a score of 62. Illinois’ 21 points allowed them to capture the championship.

In the women’s race, Butler had runners finish in the top four spots of the 4-kilometer competition.

Freshman Mara Olson had an exceptional first race, finishing with a first-place time of 14:45.  Junior Becky Howarth crossed the line just nine seconds later to capture second place.

Rounding out the top four were sophomore Shelbi Burnett, who finished third with a time of 14:58, and junior Kaitlyn Love, who finished eight seconds behind Burnett.

Freshman Erica Carlson took eighth place with a time of 15:21, while freshman Chelsea Stephen completed the race just one second after her and grabbed ninth place.

In the men’s 6-kilometer race, sophomore Callum Hawkins put up a fight for first place but had to settle for a runner-up finish. Hawkins’ time of 18:51 put him one second behind the eventual winner, Illinois senior Chris DeSilva.

“It was a slower race,” Hawkins said. “The heat does affect [us] a lot, but everyone is in the same situation. The women’s team did very well, and for the guys it was there, but it just didn’t click.”

Sophomore Craig Jordan came in second for Butler and in 10th place overall with a finishing time of 19:20.

Junior Kevin Oblinger was Butler’s third finisher. His time of 19:39 was good for 15th place overall. Freshmen David Ford (23rd) and Kodi Mullins (29th) were the fourth and fifth finishers for the Bulldogs, respectively.

“The women’s race went well, but the guys kind of had a tough one,” Oblinger said. “We all got out there and really grinded on the course, so it was a good effort overall as a team.”

Neither Butler squad sent out all of its top runners since the Challenge was both teams’ first meet of the season.

Both teams will compete at the Indiana Intercollegiates on Friday Sept. 16 at Indiana University.