Being cooped up inside during the winter instills a spring fever inside just about everyone. Now that the outdoor season is underway, the Bulldogs are running loose and free of a winter spell.
Select Ferris track athletes were selected by head coach Steve Picucci to travel to North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC and open the outdoor season in a non-scoring event. The meet featured student-athletes from schools like Duke, Eastern Mich., Wake Forest, Pittsburgh, the University of North Carolina, and several other schools at all levels of competition.
“The team is pretty well prepared to get the outdoor season underway. I’m pretty excited to see how our team improves over the season,” said sophomore Ryan Chute.
Ferris focused on distance running and throwing at the NC State meet. Leading the Bulldogs at the meet was freshman Jessica Pilling and her fifth-place hammer throw that reached 48.77 meters.
Junior Amy Joostberns added a 13th place finish in discus to add to the Bulldogs success on the field.
Ferris distanced themselves from the competition with the help of freshman Samantha Johnson’s 11th-place finish at 4:35.48 in section one of the 1,500 meter run. Sophomore Anna Rudd accompanied Johnson’s finish with her own 11th-place finish at 36:36.40 in the 10,000 meter run. The lady Bulldogs went on to nab a 10th-place finish in the 3200 meter relay.
“The team performed quite well, there were a lot of big personal records and improvements,” said Chute.
For the men, Chute led the team with an eighth-place finishing time of 14:56.37 in section three of the 5,000 meter run.
“The men’s team is definitely making the necessary improvements that Coach Picucci wants. He just wants everyone to give their best and we’ll continue to get better,” said Chute.
The entire Bulldog team will begin the outdoor season on April 2 at the Aquinas Open. A week later, the Bulldogs will host the annual Bulldog Invitational on April 9 at Top Taggart Field. n