The Women’s Track and Field team has been performing at an extremely high-level recently. It took home the top team score at an invitational Feb. 2 at RIT and managed to win another one in New York City this week. The ‘Jackets finished first out of 26 teams in the NYU Invitational.
Junior Kylee Bartlett helped to lead the way, scoring in the 60-meter hurdles, long jump, and 200 meter events. Her teammate, sophomore Michaela Burrell, also had an exquisite showing, winning the 60-meter dash and scoring in the 200 meter. Sophomore Lonnie Garrett and first-year Eileen Bequette both finished second in the triple jump and long jump, respectively. First-year Colette Anikwue scored third in the high jump, adding to the success of UR’s jumpers.
Junior Rachel Bargabos also had a strong day, finishing a 5K in 18:00.03, which was enough for a fourth-place finish. Senior Brianna Loughran finished sixth in the mile for the ‘Jackets, as did sophomore Jordan Hurlbut in the 800-meter sprint. First-year Danielle Bartolotta joined Loughran in the mile, finishing eighth. The women’s 4×400 meter relay team, composed of Bequette, Colleen Arnold, Elizabeth Ross, and Alice Freese finished sixth, wrapping up a great weekend on the track.
The final scorer from the women’s team was first-year Grace Messina, who scored twice for the ‘Jackets, coming in eighth in shot put and fourth in the weight throw.
Burrell, Garrett, Bartlett, and Bargabos all qualified for the Atlantic Regionals, a postseason meet.
The Men’s Track and Field Team also had a great showing in New York City, bringing home a fourth place finish out of 27 teams. The highlight of the night on the men’s side was junior Chris Dalke winning the 800-meter race. Teammates Hunter Phinney, junior, and Ivan Frantz, sophomore, both performed well in the 5K. They finished third and sixth, respectively. Another junior, Ben Martell, put together a fifth place performance in the 3K.
First-year Terry Cook was able to finish second in the pole vault, the top Division III finisher in his event. Sophomore Mark Westman came in sixth place for the triple jump. Rounding out the scoring for the ‘Jackets was the 4×400 meter relay team. Dalke, Dan Allara, Wesley Clayton, and Cole Gublo ran for a seventh place finish.
Dalke was the only one to qualify for the Atlantic Regionals on the men’s team.
Many more runners look to qualify next weekend as the teams will be splitting up and traveling to two meets. Some will compete in the Brockport Invitational, while others go to the Cornell Deneault Invitational. These will be the last meets of the regular season for the Track and Field Teams. After that they will begin postseason play, hoping to build on the success the programs have had thus far.
