This weekend, the men’s and women’s track and field teams participated in two meets, enjoying success in both.
Most of each squad traveled to New York City for the Columbia Invitational, while a smaller group of qualifiers made the trek to Knoxville, TN for the 36th annual Sea Ray Relays.
The men had eight top-10 finishes at the Columbia Invitational. One of the best performances of the meet was by sophomore Didier Lecorps. His mark of 46.11m in the discus throw earned him first place at the meet and qualified him for the IC4As. Other standout performances came from junior Mike Harbeck and senior Mike Sinkevich. Harbeck won the pole vault with a height of 4.65m and Sinkevich placed first in the 10,000m, finishing with a time of 32:04.91.
The women had an equally impressive showing at Columbia. A number of strong performances in the field events led the Red to top-five finishes in six different events. Freshman Ginny Lerch finished second in the javelin throw, with an IC4A qualifying mark of 41.62m. Freshman Stacey Nadolny finished second in the discus with a throw of 41.44m. Junior Molly Dickens placed second in the pole vault, clearing 3.25m.
The Sea Ray Relays is one of the biggest meets of the year and a showcase for the nation’s best athletes. Considering that the Red competed against over 1300 athletes from 97 different schools, the four-day meet was successful.
In Knoxville, the men also claimed eight top-10 finishes. One of the strongest showings was by senior Max King, who’s time of 9:02.45 placed him third in the 3000m steeplechase. Junior Dan Dombroski as well as the distance medley relay team also recorded top-ten finishes. Dombroski placed eighth in the 5000m with a time of 14:58.57 and the medley relay team took fifth with a time of 9:59.59. In the field, the Red javelin throwers continued their early season success. In the Open javelin, sophomore Chris Friedrich’s mark of 61.45m earned him a second place finish. In the Invitational javelin, junior Scott Benowicz’s throw of 67.11m was also good enough for second. Senior pole-vaulter Scott Lundy placed third with a height of 4.95m.
The women had a strong showing at the Sea Rays as well, finishing in the top-ten in seven events. The best performance of the meet came from the distance medley relay team. The Red finished in 11:33:02 to claim first place. Senior Lena Mathews took sixth in the 1500m with a time of 4:25.09. The 4×800 relay team placed third in 8:51.72.
The top performers in the field were freshman Jessica Brown and senior Sarah Herskee. Brown finished seventh in the high jump and Herskee took ninth in the shot put.
Next weekend, the Red will compete at the Pennsylvania Invitational.
Archived article by Adam Matthews