Track visits Roberts Wesleyan, Hamilton

The women’s track and field team continued to roll toward the postseason on Saturday. The team split between meets at Hamilton College and Roberts Wesleyan College. Although both meets were non-scoring, the women clearly performed well, garnering several top finishes.Freshman Melinda Huang started the day off at Hamilton, placing fourth in the high jump with a mark of 1.52 meters. The 4×100-meter relay team was strong for the second consecutive week, posting a second-place finish with a time of 51.47. In the 1,500-meter run, senior Elizabeth Canfield ran 4:50.70, finishing in fifth place. Canfield followed that up with a fifth-place finish in the 800-meter run, running 2:24.38. Freshman Whitney Silkworth added yet another fifth-place finish in the 100-meter high hurdles, which she completed in 16.57. Silkworth ran 1:07.60 in the 400-meter hurdles to place third. In the 5,000-meter run, senior Erika Wasserstein was fourth with a time of 19:26.24. The 4×400-meter relay team posted a sixth-place finish, completing the event in 4:25.71.The standout for the women at Hamilton was junior Katie O’Brien. Her day started in the 400-meter dash, which she easily won with a time of 58.25 seconds. That time set a new meet record along the way. O’Brien’s day continued in the 100-meter dash, which she ran in 12.95 seconds to place fifth. She then added a second-place finish in the 200-meter dash, running 26.39 seconds.Also in the 400, junior Michelle Gabriele ran 1:02.60, finishing in fourth place. At the Raider Invitational hosted by Roberts Wesleyan, sophomore Kate Pohlman led off with a second-place finish in the 800-meter run, running 2:23.76. In the 4×100-meter dash, the UR women were fourth with a time of 54.57 seconds. Once again the throwers were among the standouts for the women, posting at least one top-five finish in all four events. In the hammer throw, junior Anne Baker placed second, marking 44.50 meters. Placing fourth in the event was sophomore Cynthia Gurecki, who marked 40.38 meters. In the other three throwing events, it was junior Grace Kraay carrying the load. In the discus throw, she marked 30.70 meters to place fifth. Kraay also competed in the javelin throw, marking 30.47 meters and again finishing fifth. Her best finish of the day came in the shot put. Her mark of 11.01 meters put her third overall. This weekend the women will host Rochester Institute of Technology and Nazareth College at Fauver Stadium, their second home meet in three weeks. With the weather holding up for much of the week leading up to the meet – allowing for quality practices every day – the team should be well prepared to be on top of their games for the home crowd. The D-Day meet will serve as the team’s final chance to prepare competitively for New York State Collegiate Track Conference Championships, which will be held next weekend at SUNY Brockport.Swidler can be reached at dswidler@campustimes.org.