Photo courtesy of GoRhody.com
On Friday April 20, the University of Rhode Island men’s and women’s track and field teams traveled to Worcester, Massachusetts for the Holy Cross Invitational. Even as the school year comes to a close, the track teams continue their season with the same intensity that they started with.
The Rhode Island men’s track and field team took first place at the Holy Cross Invitational Saturday with 179 team points, and seven first-place finishers. Callan Davies won the 110 meter hurdles in 14.45 seconds and Joseph Carter won the 100 meter dash in 10.84 seconds. Rhody also took the top five finishers in the 400 meter dash. Anthony Delasanta placed first (49.42 seconds), followed by Marlon Montague (49.80 seconds), Jaleel Felton (49.95 seconds), De’Von McGriff (50.05 seconds) and Yeury Galva (50.46 seconds). The Rams took the 1-2 in the 200 meter dash, with Delasanta placing first (22.17 seconds) and Carter finishing second (22.19 seconds). The 4×100 meter relay team of Sam Coleman, Carter, Galva and Delasanta placed first in 41.64 seconds. Cam Reed won the javelin with a throw of 55.82 meters. Second-place Stonehill finished with 105 total points.
The Rhode Island women’s track and field team finished second at the Holy Cross Invitational Saturday. The Rams finished with 146 team points, behind host Holy Cross who won the meet with 204 team points. Greta Scott won the 200 meter dash in 24.61 seconds. Coach Laurie Feit-Melnick spoke about how dominant Scott has been all season. “She’s been phenomenal. She just had her personal best in the 200’s and we’re so fortunate to have her.”
Keilan Nova (25.09 seconds), Dominique Twombly (25.48 seconds), Bethany DeLoof (25.57 seconds) and Carleisha Forteau (25.63 seconds) also placed for the Rams. Mikaila Amerantes won the 400-meter-dash in 55.91 seconds. DeLoof (57.47 seconds), Nova (57.90 seconds) and Kelly MacDonnell (58.07 seconds) also placed for Rhody and Kristina MacLure won the 400-meter-hurdles in 1:02.13. The 4×400 meter relay team of MacLure, Amerantes, Gabrielle Curtis and Scott finished first in 3:51.30, and the 4×100 meter relay team of MacLure, Scott, Nova and Twombly placed second with a time of 47.63 seconds. Breann Burns won the 100-meter-hurdles in 14.49 seconds and Rebecca O’Donnell won the triple jump with a mark of 11.65 meters.
After coming in second, Coach Melnick was very positive after the weekend by commenting, “We had a great meet this past weekend.” Despite the tough New England weather, the women remained tough and competitive during their meet. When asked what the focus is for the rest of the season, Melnick responded with, “We want to go to the championship and we’re excited to compete.”
The upcoming schedule for the track teams consist of the men’s team returning to Holy Cross on Tuesday April 24. The men travel to Penn State on Friday while the women’s team competes on Thursday for the Penn relays, and Melnick along with her team are ready for the competition. “We’re looking for our 4×4 to break a school record along with other personal bests,” she said. “Penn is a great opportunity and we’re all ready and excited.”