UMW amongst top finishers in the Trojan Challenge

By ZACH WOHLEKING

Senior Writer

The University of Mary Washington track and field took on the Trojan Challenge last weekend starting on Mar. 23, with a sizable field of 13 schools competing in Mt. Olive, North Carolina. After competing well in each event with many good placings and standouts for both the men and women’s teams, UMW men’s finished 3rd in the meet and the UMW women’s team placed fourth.

Standouts from the meet include top performers such as Jose Mundo, who recorded a 10.88 time  in the 100m dash, Daniel Forjan who put up a 15.75m mark in Shot Put, and Erin Andrewlevich who recorded a time of 58.73 in the 400m dash.

These are just a few of the many standouts that were on display last weekend as UMW secured top half seeding in both men’s and women’s track and field falling behind just a small handful of schools. This was a primary display of just how competitive UMW track and field can be when they’re on, even at an event such as this with many schools in attendance.

Events like these are definitely their own experience, the crowds and the atmosphere can definitely have an impact on the athletes and effect concentration as well as mental balance. It’s interesting to try and put yourself in the shoes of one of these athletes, all the eyes, the practice the preparation. One always tries to be a master of their event, shaving off seconds, or throwing a bit farther takes hours and hours of work and preparation in order to break through the wall.

Daniel Forjan, a senior discus and shot put thrower for the team, when asked how he felt about the meet, he said, “I threw really well this weekend, it was a great meet. After this weekend I am currently ranked 6th in the nation in the shotput, and hoping to continue the success and capture my 3rd conference championship and 5th all conference award this year in outdoor track and field. We had a good meet overall, with Sam Gorton breaking the school record in the women’s hammer at 46.33m and Jose Mundo running a top 15 in the nation time at 10.88sec in the 100m dash.”

I also spoke with David Danek and got his take on the what it means to be prepared as a UMW athlete. He said that, “to be prepared you have to be able to switch up your normal routine on the fly and handle adversity. To do this at the collegiate level you have to plan ahead for any obstacle you might face and turning it into an advantage. Whether it’s changing your mark you practice every day or eating the right meal before a meet.”

This is just one of many successful meets UMW track and field, they seem to only be getting better and better as the years go on. It will be exciting to see how far they can go in the near future.