On Friday, the women’s indoor track and field team earned two more spots in the Eastern College Athletic Conference championship meet. Participating in the non-scoring Rochester Institute of Technology Tiger Invitational, the ‘Jackets had 17 finishes in the top six, five of which were first place finishes.
“It was another great meet for us,” women’s head coach Barbara Hartwig said.
Junior Stacie Woods gained a spot at ECACs by placing first in the 500-meter dash with a time of 1:21.11. Fellow junior Kellie Hasselwander won the one-mile run, and her time of 5:15.81 led her into the ECAC championships, as well.
Once again, the freshmen showed their strength as newcomers, placing in multiple events. Freshman Lisa Cole placed third in the one-mile with a time of 5:19.35 and fourth in the 800 with a time of 2:26.27. Freshman Hilary Haefner placed sixth in the one-mile, and three other freshmen placed in the top nine of the 800.
“It’s fun to be a freshman on the team,” Suzanne Giunta said. “It’s exciting to be involved with the team, and the freshmen have been doing really well.”
The event-winning 4×400 relay team also included a freshman, Heather Graham, along with sophomore Sara Myers, Woods and senior Whitney Silkworth. The final runner of the foursome crossed the line at 4:19.04.
Myers also placed fifth in the 400 with a time of 67.43 seconds, and Hasselwander and Silkworth found success again when they placed fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 1000. There was barely a distinction between the two, as they finished with times of 3:13.64 and 3:13.90.
Junior Michelle Andrews and sophomore Jamie Landry had their share of achievement in the 55-meter hurdles, as Andrews placed third with a time of 9.10 and Landry finished just behind in fourth with a time of 9.14.
Landry came out on top in the high jump tying for first when she cleared a height of 1.60 meters. Another victory in the field events came from junior Anjuli Cherukuri, who won the pole vault by passing over the bar set at 3.00.
Sophomore Bridget Mayne earned a personal record in the weight throw with a distance of 12.80 meters. This earned her a spot in sixth place. Two of her teammates also placed in the event. Senior Kate Odian finished fourth with a throw of 13.26, and sophomore Jonelle Redhead placed fifth, throwing a distance of 13.17.
The men’s team did not see as much success, but it did welcome back some runners who had not been participating recently due to injury.
Sophomore Marquis Turner returned after taking some time off to nurse an injury and placed seventh in the 55-meter dash, crossing the line in 6.93. He was also a member of the first place 4×400 relay team, which finished in 3:29.78. He was joined by seniors Brian MacIlvain and Jake Pylman and freshman Sean Adams.
The 4×200 relay team also did well, placing fourth with a time of 1:35.87. Turner also ran on this team, along with sophomore Travis Buttaccio and juniors Max Ehrmann and Justin Papariella.
The distance team’s main man, junior Mark Stevens, returned this week after taking some time off to rest an injury that arose at the end of last cross country season. He placed eighth in the 5000, finishing in 15:46.76.
MacIlvain made his mark again by placing third in the 800 with a time of 1:59.53, and he was just one hundredth of a second behind the second place finisher.
In the shorter distances, Papariella placed seventh in the 200 with a time of 23.93, and sophomore teammate Jon Antista was right behind, placing eighth with a time of 23.94.
Sophomore Brian Kraftschik placed seventh in the 400 with a time of 53.54.
In the field events, junior Mike Burgstrom secured his spot in the NCAA championships, as he threw the weight 17.52 meters, placing him sixth in Division III. He placed third in the event and second among collegiate participants. He also finished fourth in the shot put with a throw of 13.21.
Junior Dan Gloekler placed sixth in the pole vault by bringing himself over the bar set at 4.10 meters. In the high jump, sophomore Kevin Easton cleared 1.80 to put him in eighth place.
This weekend, both teams travel to Boston University to face the tough competition at the Valentine Invitational.
“We have good momentum going,” Hartwig said. “I can’t wait to see the improvements each week.”
“It’s a large track, so our times should be really good,” Giunta said. “There’s going to be a lot of tough D-I competition, but I think we’ll be able to hold our own.”
Philbrick is a member of the class of 2009.
