After finishing behind SUNY Brockport at the Saints Indoor Invitational two weekends ago, the women’s indoor track and field team took revenge, placing third at the Colgate University Class of 1932 Invitational 24 points ahead of fourth-place Brockport.
The Yellowjackets racked in 70 points overall, only falling behind Colgate and Binghamton University both Division I schools.
The fielding events provided key points for UR throughout the meet. Senior Jonelle Redhead started the ‘Jackets’ day off right, taking first in the weight throw with a distance of 15.27 meters. This, along with four other first-place finishes, propelled the Yellowjackets ahead of 12 other teams.
In other field events, sophomore Yaneve Fonge took first in the shot put, throwing 11.17 meters, and Redhead contributed more points to the team score by placing fifth in the event. Senior Jamie Landry placed second in the high jump, clearing 1.55 meters, and junior Melissa Skevington rounded out the slew of top-scoring fielders by taking third in the triple jump.
Junior Shanthi Chodagiri was the champion in her sprint event for the second week in a row, this time taking first in the 400. And not only did sophomore Jacqueline Cinella cross the finish line first in the 500, but her time of 1:20.24 was also a Colgate Field House record.
The final first-place finish came in the form of a relay win. The women’s 4-by-400 ‘A” team crossed the finish line in 4:06.31.
The men’s team had a strong showing but did not have as much success as the women.
The Yellowjackets earned 27.5 points to place eighth overall in a field of 18. Among those ahead of UR, however, were Colgate and Binghamton, along with SUNY Cortland, who was eighth in the nation at last year’s Division III indoor track championships.
Two of the ‘Jackets’ top finishes came in the field events. Graduate student Eric Scheele placed second in the shot put with a distance of 14.11 meters, and sophomore Dan Abud tied for fifth in the pole vault, clearing 4.27 meters.
The men’s best running performance was in a relay the 4-by-400 ‘A” team placed second overall.
This weekend, the Yellowjackets will head to Syracuse University for the Syracuse Invitational, where they will again face Colgate, SUNY Cortland and SUNY Brockport, among other teams.
Philbrick is a member of the class of 2009.
