The University of Rhode Island’s women’s track and field team traveled to the College of the Holy Cross over the weekend to compete in the Jim Kavanagh Legacy Invitational, earning a first-place finish.
The Rams competed against Providence College, Stonehill College, the University of Maine and Holy Cross in an afternoon competition that ended in a day full of individual first-place finishes and personal best times for URI.
Fourth-year Zoe Catrambone led the way with the top finish in the 800-meter with a time of 2:08.90, good for a new URI senior record. Fifth-year Madeline Till finished under two seconds behind her at 2:10.39 for second place.
Fourth-year sprinter Joyce London continued the momentum in the 400-meter hurdles, as she recorded a time of 1:02.77 to take home first place. URI also made up the rest of the podium, with third-year Abigail Colella placing second with a time of 1:02.83 and first-year Keira Cleary posting a time of 1:03.94 to make up third.
First-year Reagan Garibaldi reigned as the top finisher in the 200-meter with a time of 24.57 seconds, Rhode Island’s third first-place finish at that point in the meet. Second-year Nyah Santana placed just outside the podium in fourth place with a time of 25.14 seconds.
In addition to the solo track events, the Rams 4×400-meter relay team, made up of Cleary, Santana, Colella and Garibaldi, added another win with a first-place finish in a time of 3:45.09.
In field events, third-year Alyssa Yankee was the top finisher in the hammer with a throw of 172’ 9”, as well as a 139’ 11” throw in the discus to get second place and a 39’ 9.75” throw in the shot put to place third.
Second-year Macy Daigle cleared 5’ 8” in the high jump to win the event, and second-year Lily MacDonald took home the crown in the triple jump with a mark of 38’ 7.75” for the Rams’ sixth and seventh first-place finishes on the day.
With the Atlantic 10 Championship approaching, Rhode Island head coach Laurie Feit-Melnick is using these end-of-season meets in a strategic way to best prepare her team going forward.
“We are late in the season, so we need to take advantage of the competition,” Feit-Melnick said. “Each meet is helping us prepare, and if we need to change things, we always make them a primary focus in practice.”
Feit-Melnick feels her team is in a good spot heading into postseason play, even with the championship being on the road.
“That’s what we do,” Feit-Melnick said. “We travel to every A-10 and New England Championship, so sleep, eating and hydration is key for us. We have a great group of captains and leaders, and we are excited.”
The Rams will send split squids to compete in the Penn Relays and the CCSU Invitational at Central Connecticut State University this week and then make the trip down to Fairfax, Va., for the Atlantic 10 Championship on May 2-3.
