St. Thomas ushered in Easter break with wins and rain Thursday at the Track and Field St. Thomas Easter Invitational.
The day started warm and sunny for the morning field events at O’Shaughnessy Stadium. As athletes warmed up on the green field set against a brilliant blue sky, scheduling the high jump and pole vault events indoors in case of inclement weather seemed laughable.
The start of the meet saw the Tommies soaring to the top three spots in the men’s high jump, led by Tommie first-year Andrew Eichmann with a 1.99 meter leap.
However, the sky quickly clouded over by the end of the men’s shot put where Tommie senior Shane Aberg placed first with a throw of 15.09 meters across scattered raindrops. The meet was placed on a lightning delay at 11:45 a.m. and everyone was asked to take shelter.
In yet another spring twist just moments after the field was cleared, the sky turned blue and temperatures soared past 60 degrees. At 12:19 p.m., officials announced another observed lightning strike and asked the amused athletes to remain indoors.
At 12:40 p.m., they were permitted to return to the field and competition resumed with the final two sections of the women’s 100 meter sprint. St. Thomas women swept the top eight spots, with Danika Apple bolting to first in just 11.76 seconds.
University of Northwestern Minnesota sophomore Faith Matvey crossed the finish line for the sole team of the women’s 4x400m relay to close the tournament at 3:01 p.m. As the last athletes trickled off the field, rain finally began to fall.
Evan Neubauer can be reached at neub6662@stthomas.edu.
