Staying close to home and running on a fast track proved beneficial for the women’s track and field team last weekend as the Yellowjackets traveled across town to Roberts Wesleyan College for the Raider Challenge Invitational and placed third of 11 teams for the day.
Sophomore Stacie Woods was the top finisher on the day, providing UR with their only championship performance, although there were many second-place finishes to keep the team strong.
“Stacie Woods won the 400 and in a very good time considering the windy conditions,” head coach Barbara Hartwig said. “She also scored in the 200 with a very respectable time, an event she rarely runs and she anchored the 4×400-meter relay. Stacie has been running with a lot of confidence.”
Woods crossed the 400-meter dash finish line in 1:01.25. She was fourth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 27.58 seconds.
In the 100-meter dash, freshman Latoya Dunbar brought in some points for the team, placing seventh with a time of 13.56. In the 800-meter run, senior Kate Pohlman finished fourth, clocking in at 2:25.55, earning five more points for the Yellowjackets.
“[Senior] Jessie VanBinsbergen and [sophomore] Kellie Hasselwander ran strongly and finished second in the 1,500 and 5K. [These are] not their usual races. We were trying to change things up a bit,” Hartwig said.
VanBinsbergen ran a time of 5:02.44 for the 1,500-meter run and Hasselwander crossed the line at 19:16.14 for the 5,000-meter run. Freshman Chelsea McGuire placed fourth in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 20:22.53 – a personal best.
Sophomore Michelle Andrews and freshman Jamie Landry helped the team out in the 100-meter hurdles, finishing fourth and seventh, respectively, with times of 15.83 and 16.94.
The 4×400-meter relay team placed second with a time of 4:21.36, scoring another eight points for the team. Landry gained six more by placing third in the high jump, clearing 1.52 meters.
Sophomore Anjuli Cheruki was second in the pole vault, clearing 2.79 meters and junior Allison Altman was fifth, clearing 2.48.
Cheruki was also third in the discus throw, reaching a distance of 31.78 meters. In other field events, sophomore Kathryn Knowles was fourth in the triple jump with a distance of 10.08 meters and senior Cynthia Gurecki was second in the hammer throw with a distance of 40.45 meters and senior Lorena Saurez-Delgado was sixth, throwing 35.86 meters.
At the end of the day, UR finished with 114 points, just 31 behind champion SUNY Geneseo and not far behind the second place hosts – Roberts Wesleyan College. This weekend, the team will be traveling to Hamilton College or Nazareth College.
“Performances are starting to come together,” Hartwig said. “I look forward to more personal bests as we begin to get ready for the conference and ECAC events.”
Philbrick can be reached at ephilbrick@campustimes.org.
