The track and field teams already broke three records this season. Photos courtesy of Butler Athletics.
NHU-HAN BUI | SPORTS CO-EDITOR | hbui@butler.edu
As head coach, Matt Roe enters his 17th season at the helm of the men’s and women’s track and field programs; his teams are already making their mark.
Graduate distance runner Jesse Hamlin broke his own 3K record in the Bulldogs’ first meet of the year, while first-year Anna Niebrugge set two new school records at consecutive meets. After breaking the 60-meter dash record at the Fairgrounds Invitational, Niebrugge broke it again the following weekend at the Heartland Invitational. Additionally, the men’s team has two groups ranked in the NCAA Top 20: the 3K and 5K.
The early success means that the teams’ main goal — sending athletes to the NCAA Indoor Championship — has been met already.
“If the field [were] selected right now, Hamlin would be in the field for 3000 meters,” Roe said. “He’s ranked 10th in the NCAA, [so] we’re meeting that goal as we speak. Whether you’re the top person on the team or the last person to run in the Big East championships — not everybody [runs in the championship] — it’s [a goal] to compete your best in [your] events, and then hopefully as a program, advance people beyond the conference meet to [the] NCAA level.”
With the indoor portion of the season coming to a close, the group has been cleaning up its transition from slower running to sprinting.
“We’ve definitely been working on sharpening up a lot coming into [the] strategic [and] high-level racing season,” Hamlin said. “[We’re] working on some shifting, because a lot of Big East and conference championship racing is not always fast from the start. Sometimes it’s a little slower, and then it just closes in an all-out sprint. So [being] able to go from that slower, less intense pace to [closing] hard to hopefully win races or beat as many people as possible is something we always focus on this time of year.”
Last season, the men’s team had two runners — graduate distance runner Matthew Forrester and senior distance runner William Zegarski — qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships. With the outdoor season drawing near, the team is looking for new ways to qualify for the championship while also incorporating a team aspect.
“This is my last track season, so I’m really just trying to enjoy every minute of it,” Hamlin said. “Last year we had a lot of success in the relays, and I think that’s something that we really want to move forward with. We won the [4x800m] on the men’s side [last year, and] that’s something that the conference is very competitive [in]. Track is such an individual event sometimes, but to be able to have that team aspect is really special. So to be able to bring that again, we’re trying to run DMR — which is a distance medley relay — this indoor [season] to try to qualify for nationals, which is really exciting. That’s something we haven’t done ever since I’ve been here.”
The women’s team has a strong cast of young runners, with Niebrugge and sophomore distance runner Hannah Moore leading the charge. Moore finished first in the 3K at the Fairgrounds Invitational and eighth in the mile at the Crossroads of America Invitational.
Graduate sprints runner Lauren Doerr is in a unique position compared to the rest of the team — this is only her second track and field season. Previously, Doerr was a member of the women’s soccer team and credits the runners for being a strong support system.
“We are extremely supportive of each other,” Doerr said. “Everyone does a really good job of turning us on during practice and during meets. It’s so hard when you don’t execute what you want to do, and you only have eight or 25 seconds to execute something correctly. So, if you’re down after a race because you didn’t execute, everyone has been so good. They’ve been like, ‘You look strong, you look good, go get them next time.’ I think just having that support system is really huge for our team, and it keeps us all striving towards the same goal. Just keeping us in a positive mindset and helping everyone else stay positive about themselves has helped a lot.”
To close off the indoor season, the teams will be heading to the Alex Wilson Invitational in South Bend, Ind., on Feb. 21 before preparing for the Big East Indoor Championships on Feb. 27-28.
