News

Last weekend we had our first indoor meet of the season and volunteered at the VT D1 meet. We want to say thank you to all that volunteered, drove, and competed for making everything run smoothly. We had 8 new records set and even more that were broken. You all are so fast that you broke each other’s records in the same meet (sometimes the same event!) Here are all of the new record holders after Liberty Open: 

• Wyatt Thomas - 3k - 8:41.94 

• Matthew Miller - 1k - 2:32.32 

• Chris Nunn - 5k - 14:40.30 

• Dillon Luke - 60mH - 8.49s 

• Chris Helmsmen - Weight Throw - 10.13m 

• Audrey Fitzpatrick - Mile - 5:28.29 

• Audrey Fitzpatrick - 3k - 10:40.57 

• Danielle Metzger - 1k - 4:12.57

👮 Officer Elections Signup Closes (2/11)

If you’d like to run for an officer position but haven’t already, make sure to fill out this form before Tuesday night at 11:59pm. We’ll be scheduling interviews for the next two weeks, so look out for a When2meet link in your inbox after the form closes. 

As always, if you have any questions regarding the positions, feel free to reach out to any of the officers currently in that position!

🏃 Joe LaRocco Invitational @ Roanoke College (2/15) 

It’s time for our second indoor meet of the season. We’ll be traveling to Roanoke College this weekend for a one-day indoor meet. The race email will go out later this week. Make sure to read it in its entirety. Let Volkan, Ellie, or Joe know if you have any questions. 

🍽️ DThursday (2/13) 

D2 on a Thursday? That’s right! This week’s team dinner will be back at D2! Join us after practice to fuel up before the meet this weekend. You can also just come and hang out with your friends, that’s cool too.

🧠 Annual Jeopardy Social (2/16) 

Former President Wyatt Thomas presents... the annual Jeopardy social this Sunday, February 16 at 7:00pm at Holden Hall 234. The winning team gets free club merch from previous semesters. Come out this weekend and engage in a battle of the wits (unless Wyatt throws in some random obscure physics fact no one knows again.)

🏠 Indoor Volunteering (2/21-2/22)

Mark your calendars for the second indoor volunteering opportunity of the semester at Rector Field House! This is one of the biggest fundraisers for the team in the Spring, and we’ll need as many hands as we can get to help the meet run smoothly. We will be sending out a signup form once we have the finalized schedule, but just mark your calendars for Friday, February 21 and Saturday, February 22 for now. As always, there will be a free meal provided and maybe even more Carol Lee donuts... 

📸 Are the Meet Photos Up Yet? 

For once, the answer is yes. Everyone congratulate Tara Blue on setting a new meet photo upload record last weekend at Liberty. Those photos as well as the Media Day photos can be found in the Club Photo Album. 

For the best viewing experience: 

1. Click on the link above to gain access to the photo album. 

2. In the top right, click on the dropdown menu and select “Tiles.” 

3. You can use OneDrive or the OneDrive app on mobile also (they load way faster on the OneDrive app) 

🤔 Can I Still Join? 

Yes, you can still join the club. You can find the announcements GroupMe chat here. You must do the following before attending your first practice if you have not done so already: 

1. Complete the membership survey. 

2. Complete the IMLeagues forms (instructions in GroupMe announcements chat). 

3. Pay your dues (instructions in GroupMe announcements chat). 

• Indoor + outdoor competition - $120 (2 indoor meets + everything below) 

  • Outdoor competition only - $80 (4 outdoor meets + everything below) 

  • Non-competition - $30 (semester shirt & practice with us)

🔥 Fireside Chat 

This week we’re joined by Will Harrison who has some amazing volcano facts to share with the class. Did he choose this topic because my name means volcano in Turkish? Perhaps. 

Did you know that when Mount St Helens erupted on May 18th, 1980, it blotted out the sun in Yakima Washington, turning day into night?  

He’d also like you to know that Hawaii is a very unique island, being formed by the movement of two tectonic plates with a volcano below. This means that eventually, there will be an entirely new Hawaii. With what we know today being submerged underwater. This also means that all of the islands in Hawaii are made by the same volcano, which you wouldn't expect. I sure didn’t expect that. 

Last, and scariest of them all, is the fact that Yellowstone is what is called a "Supervolcano." It's overdue for an eruption at some point geologically soon (so like a few hundred years). If it erupts again, it will likely blot out the sun with ash across the entire East coast for multiple weeks. 

Thanks for the somewhat terrifying facts, Will. At least hopefully I won’t be around to see Yellowstone erupt. See you next time on Fireside chats with another special guest!