The University of Rhode Island women’s track and field team participated in the John Thomas Terrier Classic at Boston University on Friday and the Harvard Invitational on Saturday.
The Rams sent eight athletes to Boston, competing in six track events. A 4×400 meter relay team of first-years Keira Cleary, Reagan Garibaldi, Anna-Rose Merchant and second-year Nyah Santana placed fifth with a time of 3:47.05.
Garibaldi and Santana also competed in solo events, with Garibaldi placing sixth in the 500-meter run with a time of 1:16.36 and Santana finishing the 200-meter run with a time of 25.40 seconds.
Fourth-year Zoe Catrambone and fifth-year Madeline Till competed in the 1000-meter run. Catrambone finished with a time of 2:55.73, with Till finishing just five-hundredths of a second behind her with a time of 2:55.78.
Fourth-year Lily Saul ran the mile in 4:40.78, an Atlantic 10-leading time. Additionally, second-year Kelsey Wolff completed the mile in 5:09.82.
URI wrapped up the weekend at Harvard, with nine athletes competing in three track and three field events. First-year Keaney Bayha and second-year Alison Pankowicz both competed in the mile, running times of 5:05.77 and 5:10.14, respectively.
First-year Zarah Singleton competed in both the 200-meter run and the 60-meter hurdles. In the 200-meter, she placed fifth with a time of 25.35 and finished the 60-meter hurdles in 8.87 seconds. Additionally, fifth-year Kayla Clark competed in the 60-meter hurdles and finished with a time of 8.89 seconds.
In the triple jump, fourth-year Kiley Mironenko had a length of 35’ 2.5”. Four athletes competed in both the shot put and weight throw: third-year Alyssa Yankee, second-year Rachel Federico, first-year Elizabeth Dankwa and third-year Madison Boucher. Yankee placed 11th in the shot put with a length of 39’ 3” and a mark of 49’ 10.5” in the weight throw.
Federico threw the shot put 34’ 9.5” and a weight throw of 40’ 3.25”. Dankwa chucked a shot put 33’ 6” and threw the weight 39’ 0.5”. Boucher capped off with a 34’ 9.5” in the shot put and 45’ 8” in the weight.
URI Head Coach Laurie Feit-Melnick took her time to reflect on the action-packed weekend. At BU, she pointed out the highlights of her team’s performance.
“Lily’s mile stood out,” Feit-Melnick said. “The 4×400 group did really well. Reagan did well. Zoe and Madeline had season-best times. We didn’t take a lot of people, but it was great to have them run on a fast track at BU.”
Moving to Harvard, a day that also included field events, Feit-Melnick was grateful for the challenge that it presented for her athletes.
“This is all preparation for the Atlantic 10 Championships at the end of this month,” Feit-Melnick said. “We just take advantage of these amazing meets, and it’s all in preparation for championship time.”
Singleton, who competed at Harvard only, had positive words about her own performance and her team’s.
“I’d say I did feel pretty good with my performance,” Singleton said. “I did improve from the previous week. As a whole, from the few of us that did end up going to the Harvard meet, I think it was a pretty good meet for a lot of us.”
Moving forward, Feit-Melnick is focused on not taking these meets for granted as the team gears up for the A-10 Championships.
“Every meet is an opportunity,” Feit-Melnick said. “Every meet is an opportunity to improve individually and as a team, and that’ll only help us toward the championship part of our season.”
The Rams will be back in action this weekend for two meets in Boston. The first is on Friday, the Riverhawk Invitational at The Track at New Balance. The second, the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships on Saturday and Sunday.
