Both the University of Rhode Island women’s and men’s track and field teams competed at the New England Championship this past Friday and Saturday. The men’s track team finished in fourth place, with a combined 70 team points, while the women’s track team finished fifth, with a combined 57 team points. It was a two day event was hosted by the Reggie Lewis Center in Roxbury, Massachusetts.
There were several races, ranging from the 200 meter dash to a 5000 meter long run. There were other events as well, such as the weight throw, pole vault and running through hurdles. For the men’s team, in the 200 meter race, Anthony Delasanta finished fourth, with a time of 21.96 seconds, while Joseph Carter finished sixth with a time of 22.27 seconds.
Delasanta had an outstanding day, also finishing a respectable second in the 400 meter dash with a time of 48.19 seconds, and finishing first in the preliminary races, with a time of 48.79, barely beating out second place, who finished with 48.80. But perhaps the greatest accomplishment of the Rams team that day was the 4×400 meter team relay. Adam Franklin, De”von McGriff, Jordan Ross and Delasanta won with a time of 3:15.94. Meanwhile, Kellen Waters finished third in the 1000 meter final (2:27.66) and Nathan Coogan was eighth (2:35.50). Adam Franklin placed fourth in the 60 meter hurdle finals with a time of 8.22 seconds.
In the weight throw, Jonathan Buchanan placed 13th with a throw of 16.00m and Thomas Vadis was 15th with a mark of 15.77m (51′ 9.0″). Trevor Rooney, in the long jump event, placed ninth with a leap of 6.79m. Jack Reichenbach was 19th with a jump of 6.57m.
The distance medley relay team of Rock Fornta, Jordan Ross, Shawn Carlson and Tyler Rubush finished fifth in 10:01.82.
The women’s track team also finished first in the 4×400 meter team relay. Kelly MacDonald, Mikaila Amerantes, Kristina MacLure and Greta Scott won in this relay, finishing with a winning time of 3:43.97. Amazingly enough, they accomplished this exact same feat last year in the 2018 New England Championship.
Other accomplishments for the women’s team included Scott finishing third in the 400 meter finals in 55.99 seconds. Amerantes was second in the 500 meter finals with a time of 1:12.80. Lotte Black finished first the 1000 meter with a time of 2:47.54, her first victory in the New England championship. Meanwhile, in the 60 meter hurdle race, Kristina MacLure was fourth with a time of 8.68 seconds. Ciara French was seventh (8.85s) and Trinity Smith was eighth (8.97s).
For the long jump event, Kristina MacLure placed a respectable third with a leap of 5.73m. Jessica Ippolito finished ninth in the pole vault after clearing 3.55m. In the weight throw, Molly Botts finished 13th with a throw of 15.05m and Samantha Andrews finished right behind her in 14th, with a mark of 15.02m. The distance medley relay team of Chelsea Lee, Hasna Kaarina Badja, Sydney Sopchak and Ashley Evans finished ninth in 12:33.74.
In the Men’s Championship, Connecticut College finished in 1st place with a team score of 194 points. In the Women’s Championship, the NorthEastern Huskies finished first with a team score of 162 points.