After a strong showing at the UR Invitational, the women’s track and field team traveled to Hamilton College to compete in the Hamilton Invitational last weekend. Although the meet was non-scoring, the women put together a number of excellent performances, including several first and second place finishes.
Head coach Barbara Hartwig called it “a really great meet.” She said that “there was better competition and better weather than we have had the entire spring,” and the team certainly took advantage of the opportunities.
In the first event of the day, sophomore Anne Baker placed second in the hammer throw with a mark of 39.45 meters. Sophomore Grace Kraay continued to excel in the shot put, marking 11.48 meters for a third place finish, breaking the school record once again.
With a mark of 30.90 meters, she also placed seventh in the discus throw, two places behind freshman teammate Cynthia Gurecki, who placed fifth with a mark of 32.43 meters. After placing eighth in the long jump with a mark of 4.78 meters, junior Katrina Nowak followed that up with fifth place in the triple jump, as she hit 9.98 meters. Sophomore Anna Barbi marked 1.49 meters to place sixth in the high jump.
In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, junior Erika Wasserstein ran 11:44.20, her best outdoor time, to place second overall. Continuing her success in the 800-meter, sophomore Katie O’Brien placed third with a time of 2:16.16. After setting the meet record last year with a time of 1:07.39, senior Elizabeth Conway shattered that time with a 1:04.44 finish this time, putting her in first place by more than three seconds ahead of her closest competitor, and meeting the provisional qualifying standard for Nationals. In the final event of the day for the women, the 1,600-meter relay team easily improved upon last year’s time of 4:09.06, when they set the meet record, running 4:05.28 this time around, as they finished second to the Ithaca College relay team. Hartwig called the performance “their best of the season.”
Overall, Hartwig said she was “really pleased with how we did,” adding “it was a nice bus ride home.” Although she said that “it’s been stressful not having good weather to practice or compete in,” she continued, “We were definitely ready to compete, and we’re adapting to the weather.”
In an effort to get some more competition in as the end of the season rapidly approaches, the team went to Roberts Wesleyan College on Tuesday evening. The meet was highlighted by Nowak’s triple jump, her best of the season, and senior Lisa Johns, who Hartwig said “had her best outdoor performance.”
This weekend, the team will not travel far as it will compete at Rochester Institute of Technology in the last meet before States.
Several athletes will not compete, however, as they will be resting up in preparation for the State Decathlon Championships at Cornell University on Sunday and Monday.
Swidler can be reached at dswidler@campustimes.org.
