Track & Field heads to VMI

Men’s and Women’s track travel to the Virginia Military Institute for critical meet

Junior+thrower+Matthew+Hart+in+the+hammer+throw.

Patrick Kelly

Junior thrower Matthew Hart in the hammer throw.

Anna Watson, Sports Writer

This impending weekend, the Bloomsburg Huskies men’s and women’s Track and Field teams are in for a treat as they travel to Virginia Military Institute for the two-day VMI Indoor Classic. Meets start on Friday, Feb.14, and end the following day, Saturday, Feb. 15. 

With that being said, the Huskies must be on their A game for this weekend’s Classic. Just recently at the Winter Relays, Virginia Military Institute senior Jahanzib Shahbaz, set the bar high and placed first in the 800 meter with a time of 1:52.31, which is a new record for the organization. In addition to this, senior James Granderson had phenomenal performances in two events, the long jump and the 60-meter hurdles. Ranking second in the long jump, with 6.73 meters, and posting third in the 60hh in 8.28 seconds. As for the Huskies, they competed at the East Stroudsburg Quad Meet last Friday, vs. ESU, Kutztown, and West Chester. 

BU successfully established three PSAC measures, with juniors Matthew Hart and Matt Loeh. Hart performed exceptionally well in both the weight throw and the shot put, placing in tenth and sixth in total. In regards to Loeh, he had a season-best distance of 15.69 meters, climbing to ninth place overall in the PSAC so far this year, as well as completing the meet in sixth place. 

Although these are great accomplishments, the Huskies must look to perform better in the track events this weekend, as VMI’s superb seniors Shahbaz and Granderson specialize in that category. 

On the women’s side, sophomore Erin Rottloff had a personal best in the high jump with 1.50 meters. Similarly, another sophomore Ashley Blannard also qualified and had a season-best long jump leap of 5.33 meters, to end in second place. 

With these triumphs from last week, the Huskies look to carry that momentum to Lexington this weekend in the VMI Indoor Classic.