The University of Rhode Island track and field teams enjoyed several personal and season bests from their athletes as the season nears the Atlantic 10 championships.
The men’s team had four of their athletes top their personal bests and two earn season-best marks in their specific events during the two days of action. It was overall a weekend of achievement for Rhode Island.
Freshman New Jersey native and back-to-back Atlantic-10 conference rookie of the week Adam
Franklin broke a personal best in the garden state while running the 400-meter hurdles in a time of 53.57 seconds compared to his old personal best of 54.95.
“He didn’t say much about it, but I think competing close to home with his family there and all did contribute to him running even faster,” head coach John Copeland said.
Another two-time recognized conference performer of the week for Rhode Island recorded an outdoor personal best in his competition this weekend. Senior Samuel Snyder recorded a shot put throw of 17.11 meters, (56 feet, 1.75 inches) putting him in fourth place for the event, but moving him into third place in University of Rhode Island track and field history for the shot put.
Junior hurdler John Stallworth finished off the successful weekend for Rhode Island also marking a season best in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14. 64 seconds.
“I was really pleased with what we did this weekend and where we are at this point in the season,†Copeland said. “Adam, Snyder, Stallworth, and our relay team all really performed at a high level.â€
The women’s team also had notable performances that saw several athletes reach their top form.
Senior Emily Renna was a standout in the meet, winning the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.02, her second fastest time of the year. She was complemented by freshman Nichole Barger, who finished best amongst the Rams with an overall 13th-place finish in the 1500-meter run. Teammate Katherine McNulty came in with a time of 4:55.31 also in the 1500-meters in what was her event debut.
Senior Alexandra Carbonell posted an outdoor personal best in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:20.97. Junior Briana Robitaille finished in 15th place in the 100-meter run, continuing the trend of displays that may not been elite, but were more than telling enough of what the team could do at the A-10’s in just a little more than a week.
The women will join the men for the Penn Relays tomorrow before the Brown Open on Sunday.