Track and Field: The Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Team both put on strong performances in the URI Coaches Invitational. Photos by Autumn Walters.
It was a busy day at Mackal Field House on Saturday, Feb. 8 as both the Men’s and Women’s Track and Field teams competed in and hosted the URI Coaches Invitational.
A total of nine schools were invited to participate across both the men’s and women’s divisions. Saturday was also senior day for the Rams, with a total of 22 seniors between both teams being honored.
The Rams saw success throughout the day from both divisions. The women’s team had a strong outing as they had five first place individual finishers and six first place finishes in total.
Four of those five individual winners came in track events. Senior Kristina MacLure took home first place in the 60 meters final with a time of 7.66, just two-tenths of a second better than Sydney Scott of Brown University who finished second.
The Rams picked up another first place finish in the 200 meters final when senior Kelly MacDonnell finished the race with a time of 25.23 seconds. MacDonell wasn’t the only Ram to finish the 200 meter final in the top three. Her teammates, freshman Alyssa Madden and junior Bethany DeLoof finished in second and third place respectively. Madden finished with a time of 25.40 seconds and DeLoof was not far behind with a time of 25.42.
Deloof’s strong afternoon continued as she was able to grab a first place finish in the 400 meters final. The 400 meters was yet another race in which Rhody was able to claim at least the top two places. Freshman Sanaiya Watts finished second behind DeLoof with a time of 58.77 seconds.
The success on the track continued for Rhody when it came time for the 60 hurdle finals where the Rams yet again claimed the top two finishes in the event. Sophomore Trinity Smith placed first with a time of 8.76 seconds. Her fellow classmate, sophomore Ciara French wasn’t far behind in second place with a time of 8.83 seconds.
The lone individual winner in the field competitions for Rhody was sophomore Noelya Delacruz. Delacruz placed first in the weight throw final with a distance of 17.16 meters. The winning didn’t stop there for the women as the Rams also took first place in the 4×400 team relay. Rhody sent out the team of MacDonnell, Smith, MacLure and senior Gabrielle Curtis that finished with a time of three minutes, 56.01 seconds.
Rhody’s success didn’t just lie just with the women’s team on Saturday as the men also turned in a strong performance as well when they earned five first place finishes. Sophomore Jack Reichenbach was one of those to place first in his respective event. Reichenbach earned a 2.07 meter mark in the high jump to claim first place while also finishing in fourth place in the long jump.
On the track sophomore Kellen Waters finished the 1000 meters in first place with a time of two minutes, 27.03 seconds. Senior Brian Coyne also finished in the top 10 in this race with a time of two minutes, 39.03 seconds to claim 10th place.
Rhody also had four top 10 finishes in the 400 meters. Freshman Roniel Mata placed first with a time of 50.18 seconds and sophomore Dimitri Pray wasn’t far behind with a time of 51.17 seconds to claim second place. Junior David Scheier placed fifth with a time of 51.77 seconds and freshman Seth Phillips finished with a time of 52.96 seconds to claim ninth place.
Freshman La’Rue Martin gave Rhody yet another first place finish in the 60 meters with a time of 6.96 seconds. Joining him in the top 10 was sophomore Julian Thompson who finished fourth with a time of 7.16 seconds, sophomore Justin Marsland was sixth with a time of 7.17 seconds and junior Callan Davies was eighth with a time of 7.23 seconds.
The Rams also took home first place in the 4×800 meter team really race. Rhody sent out the team of Waters, sophomore Tyler Rubush, senior Sam Coppola and freshman Collin Ochs. Their time was eight minutes, 13.29 seconds.
Both the men’s and women’s track and field teams will return to action this Saturday, Feb. 15 when they travel to Boston to compete in the Boston University David Hemery Valentine Invite.