* Women’s track team picks up ECAC qualifying scoresThe women’s track and field team picked up right where they left off the previous week as they closed out the regular season last weekend at Cornell’s Marc Deneault Invitational, the second week in a row that the team competed in Ithaca. Once again there was no team scoring in the event, so it is somewhat difficult to gauge how the women stacked up against the competitors from other schools. However, there were a number of very solid individual performances that speak for themselves, giving credence to the idea that this team is ready for the postseason to begin. “The idea going into the meet was to sharpen up the athletes who were qualified for [Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference], or it was a last chance for some athletes to make the qualifying standards,” Head Coach Barbara Hartwig said. “We had a number of performances that improved their standing on the New York State list and qualified them for ECACs. I thought it was a good meet. I think we’re more rested and ready to go this weekend at the conference meet.”Although there was no scoring, there were still a number of personal achievements. In the 400-meter dash, senior Katie O’Brien ran 59.52 to finish fourth overall, qualifying her for ECACs and establishing a new personal best time in the event. Freshman Whitney Silkworth, sophomore Kate Pohlman, senior Katrina Nowak and freshman Allison Altman all posted new personal bests in the 500-meter dash. Silkworth ran 1:23.57 to finish 11th. Pohlman was 13th, running a time of 1:24.13. Nowak placed 15th, finishing in 1:24.45. Altman was 23rd with a time of 1:28.52. Senior Elizabeth Canfield set a new personal record in the 1,000-meter run, as she finished in seventh place with a time of 3:08.27. Coming in behind her was senior Erika Wasserstein, who was 10th overall with a time of 3:16.38.Usually one of the team’s strong points, the women only competed in one relay on Saturday in order to conserve energy. Nevertheless, the team posted a solid third-place performance in the only relay event they entered – the 4×800-meter relay with a time of 10:24.73.Junior Anne Baker continued to excel in the weight throw, finishing fifth with a mark of 14.12 meters, as she continues her quest to reach the NCAA qualifying standard. Sophomore Cynthia Gurecki was ninth in the shot put, as she marked 10.81 meters. In the long jump, junior Michelle Gabriele marked 4.79 meters to finish 10th. Nowak finished ninth in the triple jump, marking 9.24 meters. Freshman Melinda Huang closed out the day with a mark of 1.55 meters in the high jump. The following day, junior Anna Barbi and Nowak competed at the New York State Collegiate Track Conference Pentathlon Championships, the first sequence of events in the conference meet that concludes this weekend. Barbi was second and Nowak was eighth, starting the women with nine points going into this weekend’s meet. After stumbling out the gate in the hurdles, Barbi rebounded and posted personal records in the shot put and the 800-meter run on her way to her best point total ever. Nowak set personal bests in the hurdles and the shot put. “They both had really good days,” Hartwig said. “Annie did an outstanding job in coming back from that first event.”Hartwig continued, “I’m looking forward to the Conference Championships. We were fifth last year and we hope to finish in the top five or higher this time.” Swidler can be reached at dswidler@campustimes.org.
* Men qualify two teams for the ECAC Championship in 4×800-meter relayThe men’s track and field team participated in two events last week. In the first event, the non-team scoring Cornell Invitational on Sunday, the Yellowjackets qualified two teams for the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships in the 4×800-meter relay. The first team was comprised of sophomore Chris Clark, graduate student Brian Strandberg, junior Matt Rodems and senior Alex Voetsch. The team ran 8:06, ten seconds faster than the qualifying standard time. The second team was comprised of sophomore Chris Nolan, freshman Ben Synder, senior Michael Hakiel and junior Terence Cordner.The Yellowjackets followed their performance at Cornell with solid performances by senior Jake Budny and sophomore Andrew Lange at the NYSCTC event at Hamilton College.Budny finished fourth in the New York State pentathlon with a total of 3,295 points. Lange finished 15th with 2,477 points.Budny won first place in the shot put with a throw of 13.17 meters. Lange took second in the event, throwing 13.04 meters. The closest competitor threw more than 1.5 meters shorter than Lange.Budny was victorious in the 1,000-meter run, posting a time of 2:51.83. Lange finished ninth in the event with a time of 2:59.74.Budny placed seventh in the 55-meter hurdles, finishing with a time of 8.65 seconds. Lange took 17th in the event with a time of 10.66 seconds. Budny’s long jump of 5.89 meters was good enough for tenth place. Lange finished 12th with a jump of 5.53. Budny and Lange finished tenth and sixteenth, respectively, in the high jump. Budny cleared 1.79 meters and Lange cleared 1.46 meters.The UR men’s track and field team returns to action on Friday and Saturday to compete in a meet at St. Lawrence College. Tipton can be reached at rtipton@campustimes.org.
