ANDERSON, Ind. -- For the second time in program history, the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology men's and women's track and field teams swept the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference indoor championship at Anderson University on Saturday.
The Rose-Hulman men captured their 8th consecutive HCAC indoor track and field championship since the sport was officially added to the league in 2011. The women's team won their 2nd HCAC indoor title and their first since 2011 with a strong team performance.
The men's squad scored 220 points to outdistance Anderson (111) and Hanover (86.5). The women's team more than doubled its nearest competition, scoring 188 points to top Bluffton (90.5) and Hanover (86) for the championship.
Rose-Hulman won a total of 13 HCAC championships on Saturday, including eight by the women's squad. Senior Gabi Razma and junior Lauren London led the performance with two individual victories each. Razma won the 400-meter dash (1:01.02) and the triple jump (36' 1 1/4"). London won the 60-meter hurdles with a school record time (9.21) and also claimed the long jump title (17' 3 1/2").
Other individual women's conference champion included Camille Blaisdell in the 5,000-meter run (18:47.77) and Jaclyn Setina in the high jump (5' 4 1/2").
The Fightin' Engineers also swept the 4-x-200 and 4-x-400 meter relay titles. The 4-x-200 team of London, Razma, Setina and Adekite Oladipupo won in 1:47.95. The 4-x-400 team of Razma, Clare Bruns, Lois Cheatham and Victoria Heckenlively won in 4:12.63.
On the men's side, Rose-Hulman won five events and relied on its team depth to score 220 points. The depth was shown by finishes of 1-2-4 in the 3,000-meter run and 1-2-4-5 in the shot put.
Individual champions included Matt Hill in the 5,000-meter run (15:19.14); Josh Himes in the shot put (51' 3 3/4"); Aaron Lannoy in the 800-meter run (1:58.72); Aaron Starlin in the triple jump (42' 10 1/4"); and Matthew Stevenot in the 3,000-meter run (8:50.46).
In addition to 13 event wins, Rose-Hulman also combined for 13 runner-up finishes. The men's squad recorded eight second-place efforts, with the women contributing five.
On the women's side, second-place finishers included Blaisdell in the 3,000-meter run (10:58.42); London in the triple jump (35' 4"); Razma in the long jump (16' 5"); Kally Morozin in the mile (5:32.09); and Mary-Helen Shomba in the 60-hurdles (9.44).
Men's individual runner-up finishers included Eric Fiacable in the shot put (48' 2 1/2"); Josh Hennig in the 400 meters (50.50) and the triple jump (42' 8 3/4"); Hill in the 3,000-meter run (8:51.39); and Nick Palmer in the pole vault (15' 7").
Rose-Hulman also came home second in all three relay events. The 4-x-200 team of Dawson Allen, Kristian Zadlo, David Borden and Hennig finished in 1:31.85; Nick Saulcy, Lannoy, John Evans and Hennig completed the 4x-400 in 3:28.14; and the distance medley relay team of Nathan Nordquist, Eric Mitalo, Dallas Spencer and Noah Heckenlively had a mark of 10:52.08.
