D’artagnan Johnson, contributor
Continuing off of a solid effort at the St. Olaf College Coed Invitational, the Augsburg Track and Field team challenged competitors in the University of Minnesota Gopher Classic during the weekend of Feb. 3. The Auggies squared off with extremely tough competition including division two opponent Concordia-St. Paul and division one opponent University of Minnesota.
For the men’s team, first year Kameron Smith made a splash in his third ever collegiate meet. He competed in the 60-meter dash, finishing with a time of 7.46 seconds which placed him at 29 out of 62 sprinters. He nearly matched his personal best time, just missing it by .03 seconds. Smith also competed in the mens long jump and set a new personal best with a jump measured at 6.22 meters or 20.41 feet. His big leap earned a sixth place finish out of the 19 jumpers. Smith’s sixth place finish was the highest individual finish for the mens team.
In the 200-meter dash, sophomore Success Famuyide placed 48 out of 65 runners with a time of 25.36 seconds. His time was 0.24 seconds off of his personal best which was established at Carleton Meet of the Hearts last season. A trio of first year runners competed in the mens 400-meter event. In his 400-meter debut, Eman Clement led the trio placing 16 out of the 38 runner field with a time of 54.76 seconds. Hassan Abdi and Khadar Mohamed finished 25 and 32 with respective times of 57.51 and 59.20 seconds. Each member of the trio set a personal best time. To cap off the resounding amount of personal best times for the mens team, Shareef Oty set his personal best in the 800-meter event with a time of 2:03.35 which was good enough to place 15 out of the 34 runner field. Getinat Asfaw also competed in the 800-meter run for the first time this season and placed seventh behind a strong time of 1:57.53.
First year Takia Campbell was the first runner of the day for the women’s team in the 60-meter dash. Campbell finished with a personal best time of 8.67 seconds placing 33 out of 51 sprinters. Auggie superstar Allison Hookom represented the women’s team in both the 200-meter and 400-meter dash. She finished with a time of 26.97 seconds in the 200-meter earning third out of 48 runners. Hookom separated herself from the rest of the competition in the 400-meter dash and finished with a time of 58.80 seconds to take first. With her first place finish in the 400 meter event, Hookom has established herself at a rank of 46 in the nation for division three womens 400 meter runners.
Catch the Auggies back in action on Feb. 16 at the University of Minnesota Snowshoe Open at the University of Minnesota Field House. The first event kicks off at 2 p.m.