The University of Rhode Island women’s track and field team traveled to Stonehill College in North Easton, Mass., to compete in the Stonehill Skyhawk Invitational on Saturday, representing the squad in the shot put, hammer, discus and javelin events.
The Rams competed against host Stonehill, the College of the Holy Cross, Boston College, Boston University and Merrimack College in a day full of top-ten finishes.
While the rest of the team continues to prepare for the A-10 Championship next week, this meet was the team’s final opportunity to post qualifying marks for the upcoming championship meets.
“Just figuring out what’s best for each individual heading to the championship,” head coach Laurie Feit-Melnick said. “Just the throwers competed, which will help our team.”
Rhode Island secured three top-10 finishes in the shot put. Third-year thrower Alyssa Yankee won the event with a throw of 45’ 3.5”. First-year thrower Elizabeth Dankwa finished fourth at 40’ 2.25” and third-year thrower Madison Boucher finished eighth after a throw of 34’ 9.5”.
Yankee also won the discus with a throw of 136’ 11”, as well as a 176’ 5” throw in the hammer to place first.
“[Yankee] had a phenomenal meet this past weekend,” Feit-Melnick said. “She’s making huge improvements, putting her in a good spot for the championship part of our season. It was really nice to see how well she did.”
Also in discus, second-year thrower Mae Gall placed second with a throw of 136’ 11” and Dankwa placed third with a throw of 131’ 4”.
Third-year thrower Brooke Rubush placed first in the javelin with a throw of 116’ 5”.
Boucher placed 10th in the discus with a throw of 106’ 1” as well as a 160’ 1” toss in the hammer to earn second place.
“Brooke had a huge [personal best],” Feit-Melnick said. “It’s exciting to see, she even had a [personal best] in the hammer too. Her [javelin] was a big [personal best], which was awesome, and we’ll take the win.”
With the Atlantic 10 Championship next week, Feit-Melnick believes her team is prepared for its biggest meet of the season.
“We’re super excited,” Feit-Melnick said. “We’ve got 32 women competing, and we’re super excited about having a great team meet and every point counts. In indoor, we were so close to the win, but right now we’re just focused on having a great team championship and everyone supporting one another.”
Rhode Island will travel to Fairfax, Va., for the Atlantic 10 Outdoor Track & Field Championship on Saturday and Sunday, hosted by George Mason University at George Mason Stadium.
“We’re looking forward to seeing what we can do,” Feit-Melnick said. “Then we’ll head to the New England Championships and see who we have to the first round of nationals at the end of May.”
Rhode Island has steadily improved its performance at the Atlantic 10 Championship in recent years. The Rams placed 10th out of 14 teams in 2024. Last year, the Rams placed fifth out of 15 teams with 68 points, and fourth-year athlete Lily Saul won the 800-meter run.
