PLATTEVILLE, WI – The Beloit College track and field teams made a resounding statement this weekend at the UW-Platteville Invitational, headlined by a pair of historic, record-breaking performances and several podium finishes at the Williams Fieldhouse.
The story of the meet was undoubtedly Joshua Martinez Marte (Beloit, Wis.). Martinez etched his name into the Buccaneer history books with a massive performance in the shot put. He uncorked a throw of 15.69 meters (51-05.75) to finish 7th in a highly competitive field. The distance was enough to officially break a 48-year-old school record, marking the longest shot put throw by a Beloit athlete since 1978.
Josh Yearby (West Park, FL) put on a clinic in the short sprints. Yearby began his day by leading the field in the 60-meter dash preliminaries with a time of 6.81 seconds. However, he saved his best for the finals, blazing across the finish line in 6.78 seconds to take first place. The mark established a new school record and a new facility record. This marks the third time this season he has set the record in the 60.
Yearby didn't stop there; he also captured gold in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.25 seconds. He capped off his dominant day by anchoring the Men's 4x200 meter relay team (alongside Ayouba Sumoaro (Las Vegas, NV), IIzzy Zewdie (Las Vegas, Nev.), and Nate Otis (Shoreview, Minn.)) to a first-place finish in 1:34.47.
In the field events, John Deary II (Westwego, LA), won the Long Jump with a leap of 6.77 meters (22-02.50). The Buccaneers showed great depth in the jumps, as Andrew Arhebun (Chicago, Ill.) took 4th in the same event with a mark of 6.24 meters.
On the track, Otis secured a 2nd-place finish in a fast 400-meter dash, clocking in at 50.46 seconds. In the distance events, Kembre Daniel (Chicago, Ill.) fought for a 5th-place finish in the 800-meter run (1:57.81), while Cooper Rathmann (Milwaukee, Wis.) took 4th in the 3000-meter run with a time of 9:56.67.
The Beloit women were equally impressive, led by a stellar performance from Addie Bogda. Bogda took 1st place in the 1-Mile Run, finishing in 5:43.59. She was followed closely by teammate Cole Miller (Salem, Ore.), who earned 3rd place with a time of 6:03.11
The women's relay teams also found the winner's circle. The 4x200 meter relay team of Jaslyn Gama (Beloit, Wis.), Syniyah Quenga (Urbana, IL), Allie Roberts, and Yaa Akosa (Nungua, Ghana) took 1st place with a time of 1:53.70. Many of the same athletes returned for the 4x400 meter relay, where Gama, Quenga, Miller and Roberts took another gold with a time of 4:20.15.
In the sprints, Quenga proved to be one of the fastest in the building, taking 4th place in the 200-meter dash in 26.58 seconds. In the field, Naomee Casey (Broken Arrow, Okla) cleared 3.10 meters in the Pole Vault to finish 7th.
The Buccaneers will compete at the Margaret Bradley Invitational next weekend in Chicago, Illinois. Action from the Henry Crown Fieldhouse on the campus of the University of Chicago is set to start at 11:30 am.
