Smurla & Heydt Named Landmark Conference Women’s Indoor Track & Field Athletes of the Week
TOWSON, Md. --- Moravian University senior distance runner Tara Smurla and sophomore thrower Jessica Heydt have been named the Landmark Conference Women’s Field Indoor Track & Field Athletes of the Week for their performances last week.
TOWSON, Md. --- Moravian University senior distance runner Tara Smurla and sophomore thrower Jessica Heydt have been named the Landmark Conference Women's Field Indoor Track & Field Athletes of the Week for their performances last week.
Smurla was the runner-up in the 3,000-meter run at the Hounds Classic in Lehigh University's Rauch Fieldhouse with a school record, Landmark Conference record and All-Atlantic Region Track & Field Conference qualifying time of 10:00.12, surpassing the school mark set by All-American Heidi Wolfsberger in 2002. Smurla also finished second in the 5,000-meter run with an AARTFC qualifying time of 18:39.38.
"We weren't initially planning on running a 3k this week, but when we saw Widener entered Gabby Nye in the event, we thought it could help to make a fast race to help pull Tara to a fast time," noted Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Jesse Baumann. "They went out really quick around 5:17 through the 1600. Around that time Gabby was able to take off, and Tara stuck to running 40 second splits throughout the rest of the course to wind up setting a conference and school record. We honestly thought she had a shot at running these times last year, but she had some iron deficiencies that we didn't diagnose. Regardless, running times like this in January is really encouraging for some goals I know she has for the 5k/10k both indoors and outdoors this season."
Heydt placed second in the 20-pound weight throw at the Hounds Classic with an AARTFC qualifying mark of 15.71 meters (51-6.5). The distance, which is a new personal best, came on her final throw in the preliminaries.
"Jess had a fantastic meet at the Hounds Classic this past weekend and this is a terrific honor for her to win Landmark Field Athlete of the Week," stated Assistant Track & Field Throws Coach Jon D'Ottavio. "She's been working hard since we started practice in October and we knew all along Jess had some big throws in her. I give a lot of credit to Coach Ryan Harper for helping Jess get to this level. He's given Jess a lot of great cues and helped build her confidence in the circle this year. All of Jess's throws on Saturday in the Weight were past her previous best. Also, for her to smash the AARTF qualifying mark as well as move up to #2 on our all-time Top 10 list is a testament to the type of competitor that she is. We are excited to see what the rest of the season has in store for Jess, and we know she will continue to work hard and push herself to be even better."
Moravian is scheduled to compete in both the Ithaca (N.Y.) College Bomber Invitational and the Alvernia University Plex Shootout on Saturday, January 31.
