Mark Della Vedova, Contributor

The Augsburg University men’s and women’s track and field teams continued their strong performances during the indoor season, competing at meets at the University of St. Thomas and Carleton College this past weekend.

The women’s team was highlighted with performances from junior Jada Lewis, who posted a time of 7.77 seconds in the 60-meter dash on Friday at the St. Thomas Showcase, which was fast enough to improve her lead among the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference sprinters in the event; her time also stands at 11th-fastest among all NCAA Division III sprinters nationally. She didn’t stop there: on top of this impressive feat, Jada also posted a personal-best in the 55-meter dash with a time of 7.28 seconds at the Carleton Meet of the Hearts on Saturday. 

It was a weekend of personal bests as Sophomore Destiny Cummings claimed third place in the weight throw on Saturday with a distance of 13.95 meters (45 feet 9.25 inches), which stands 10th in the MIAC in the event. This toppled her Friday throw, which was 12.50 meters (41 feet even). 

For the men, the Auggies were led by Freshman Varney Conneh, who was also able to post a personal best effort in the 200-meter dash on Friday, good enough for a sixth-place finish. Conneh was able to post the top-five finishes in both the 60 (fourth) and 55-meter dash (second) as well. Another freshman who showed his speed over the weekend was Jaison Moore was also able to set personal-bests in both the 60-meter and 200-meter dash. Those times were good for fifth and ninth-place finishes, respectively. He also finished 10th in the long jump with a 6.09 meters (19 feet 11.75 inches) effort.

Augsburg’s track and field teams will compete at meets at the University of Minnesota and St. Olaf over the next weekend. The Auggies will compete at the Minnesota Cold Classic on Friday (2/21). The Auggie women will also compete at the St. Olaf Women’s Invitational on Friday, and the Auggie men will compete at the St. Olaf Tostrud Classic on Saturday (2/22).