Marquette track & field finished the season off by breaking two indoor records in the Big East Championships, momentum the Golden Eagles look to carry into the outdoor season.
The men placed fifth with 77 points — their highest finish and point total since 2023 — and the women came in eighth with 23 points. Helping the men achieve their best result in three years was Danny Olsen, the junior sprinter who broke two program records — one in each individual race he ran.
In the 400m preliminaries on Friday, Olsen ran an all-time best 47.39, a number he beat on Saturday to earn a silver medal with a time of 47.14. Olsen also broke the indoor record for the 200m with a time of 21.29 on Friday and then yet again broke the record on Saturday, making him the second Golden Eagle sprinter to become a Big East champion in the 200m (21.25).
“It was a terrific weekend, and I was really proud of how we competed,” director of track and field & cross country Bert Rogers said in a release from Marquette athletics.
“Danny had a historic weekend, setting new team records in every individual race he ran, and came home with his second individual Big East title.”
But despite all his success, there is one record that both he and his teammate sophomore sprinter Frankie McGee desired the most: the indoor school record in the 4×400 relay.
“There is just a list of all the names on there,” Olsen said. “So just knowing that your name will be on that plaque… just the idea of having someone walk down the same stairs you walked and being able to look at it.”
The 4×400 relay that consists of Olsen, McGee, first-year Bobby King,and first-year Blake Frea were just one second behind the school record set back in 2000 (3:14.42) going into the Big East Championships.
“Our biggest thing is we just want to take it down, get our names on there,” McGee said.
The Golden Eagle 4×400 group came up just short in Saturday’s race finishing in fifth place with a time of 3:15.11, less than one second away from the record.
McGee had quite the indoor season himself outside of competing for the 4×400 record.
Last weekend, he recorded a new personal best last weekend at the Panther Tune-Up in the 60m with a time of 7.02. Then, at the championships, McGree ran a 21.63 in 200m — good for fifth place in the event and third all-time in Marquette indoor school history.
The Big East Championships are special for Olsen and McGee, who are both Illinois natives.
McGee grew up in the Chicago area, living just 20 minutes away from the host of the tournament at the Dr. Conrad Worrill Track and Field Center at Gately Park.
“The biggest thing is my family gets to come out,” McGee said. “Being able to run there while I have the biggest supporters… that’s the coolest thing about going back home.”
Family is also a huge part for Olsen. He grew up in Evergreen Park, Ill. — just 15 minutes away from Gately Park — and attended Marist High School in Chicago, making him very familiar with the championships’ host city.
“It’s really nice to see my parents here and have them cheer us on,” Olsen said. “The experience for us and knowing that it’s a hometown experience is something great.”
Three other Golden Eagles placed on Friday, including last week’s two Big East field athletes of the week.
Junior Henrik Rosario earned bronze in the long jump (6.96m), and junior Megan White earned bronze in the women’s weight throw (16.73m). Graduate student Kaitlyn Huebner received bronze in the pole vault (3.65m), the ninth best indoor mark in school history.
Along with Olsen’s record-breaking performances on Saturday, sophomore Russell Czerwinski received a bronze medal in the men’s high jump.
As the outdoor season nears and the warmer weather approaches, so does another season for the track & field team. One that takes them to the highly rated Drake Relays on the campus of Drake University for an event with rich history that dates all the way back to 1910.
“We saw Olympians,” McGee said. “The field was phenomenal to run on; there was thousands of people in the stands.”
McGee and Olsen both agree that running outside beats running inside, for many reasons such as getting their own lane in individual events, better competition, longer tracks and of course the warmer weather.
“Outdoor you just have your basic 400m track,” Olsen said “That doesn’t change wherever you go, you can stay at Marquette and have same track on at Texas A&M.”
The biggest difference from the indoor season to the outdoor season is Marquette gets to host their own meet on April 10-11 at the Marquette Invitational on Melvin “Bus” Shimek Track and Field.
“We’ve got some big meets,” Rogers said. “Just some neat history.”
The Golden Eagles don’t begin their outdoor season until March 26 at the WashU Distance Carnival.
This story was written by Lukas Schulze. He can be reached at lukas.schulze@marquette.edu or on Twitter/x @LukasschulzeMU.