The UR women’s track and field team returned to Cornell University for the second week in a row to compete in their final meet of the regular season.
The team did not perform as well overall as they had in the previous week, but for many athletes, this week was simply to prepare for the weeks ahead.
“It was kind of hit and miss – either we had really good performances or we had flat performances,” Head Coach Barbara Hartwig said. “We didn’t really have anything in between. We used this meet as an opportunity to sharpen.”
Freshman Michelle Andrews got things started for the team in the 60-meter hurdles. Her time of 9.55 seconds was good for fifth place.
In section two of the one-mile run, freshman Louisa Slocum and sophomore Rebecca Hayes finished back-to-back in first and second place for the Yellowjackets. Their times were 5:36.46 and 5:37.51, respectively.
In the 400-meter dash, freshman Stacie Woods ran 1:02.74 to finish fifth.
Sophomore Whitney Silkworth took first place in section three of the 500-meter dash with a time of 1:25.51.
Senior Katie O’Brien, who last week qualified for Nationals in the 800-meter run, ran 2:18.38 to finish third.
In the 1,000-meter run, freshman Kellie Hasselwander placed seventh with a time of 3:05.88. She is currently ranked in the top five in the conference in the 1,000-meter run. The 3,200-meter relay team ran 10:01.59 to finish second, posting their best time of the season.
In flight one of the long jump, freshmen Kathryn Knowles and Danielle McGinnis and Silkworth were second, third and fourth. Their respective marks were 4.54 meters, 4.56 meters and 4.57 meters.
Sophomore Melinda Huang placed fourth in the high jump with a mark of 1.60 meters. In the shot put, senior Grace Kraay marked 11.19 meters to finish sixth.
On Sunday, senior Anna Barbi and Silkworth got the team off to a strong start at the state championships by combining for 6.5 points in the pentathlon.
“I think it gives the team a big boost knowing they’re starting the meet with points on the board already,” Hartwig said.
Barbi’s 2,922 points, a personal best in the pentathlon, tied her for third place and qualified her for the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships.
Silkworth totaled 2,671 points to finish eighth, although she fell just shy of qualifying for ECAC’s.
“They worked really hard toward this,” Hartwig said. “It was very motivational for the rest of the team.” The state meet continues this weekend at Rochester Institute of Technology.
“It’s going to be an exciting weekend,” Hartwig said. “We have some people who are highly ranked, and I think we also have some folks who are going to surprise themselves and the competition. That said, all the rankings are out the window. You have to go out there and compete.”
With the meet close to home and points already on the board, the team is in excellent shape to excel at the state meet.
“I’m hoping we take advantage of all these things that are in our favor and rise to the occasion,” Hartwig said.
If the regular season was any indication, it should be another excellent meet for the Yellowjacket team.
Swidler can be reached at dswidler@campustimes.org.
