Freshman Darrian Lockett captured a Midwest Conference title in the 800 meter run on Saturday as the Lake Forest College distance track team closed out its first season as a varsity sport since 1973.
Lockett jumped ahead after the first turn and maintained the lead throughout the race. His final time of 1:56.57 was nearly a second faster than the runner-up from Grinnell College, making him the first runner in program history to win an event at the MWC Championships.
The next-highest finish by a Forester on Saturday came just minutes later when freshman Yaneli Guajardo placed third in the women's 800. Guajardo, who was also seventh in the 1500 on day one of the meet, completed her two laps around the track on Saturday with a season-best time of 2:19.59.
Three additional Foresters turned in seventh-place finishes on Saturday. The first was sophomore Dillon Rice, who finished the grueling 3000 meter steeplechase in 10:15.82. Junior Jorge Villanueva joined Guajardo as a top-eight finisher in two events when he completed the men's 5000 meter run in 15:41.90 and junior Emily Staufer scored two points for her team in the women's race with a time of 19:26.52.
Despite focusing on distance events only (races of 400m and longer), the Lake Forest men racked up 20 points to finish ninth in the standings while the women were 10th with 10. Monmouth College, which hosted the meet, won its third consecutive men's team title and St. Norbert College captured the women's crown for the fourth year in a row.
Looking ahead to next year, the Foresters will not lose any of their 11 men or 16 women to graduation.
