The men’s and women’s track teams had a successful weekend at the Wesleyan Invitational in Wesleyan University.
Among the women’s sprinters, four Chargers placed at the weekend meet. Senior sprinter Savannah Sistrunk finished second in the women’s 60-meter dash. Sistrunk finished with a final time of 8.00 after shaving off .11 seconds from her preliminary time. Sophomore Kalaya Fitch finished second overall in the women’s 200-meter dash, crossing with a time of 27.19 seconds. Junior Niquelle Johnson finished third in the women’s 400-meter dash with a time of 1:04.17. And sophomore Emily Mazzuco finished second overall in the 800-meter dash with a time of 2:36.35.
New Haven clinched the second and third spots in the 1000-meter run with freshman Bernadette Karpel running the second fastest time of 3:22.32; senior Angelina Schilling took third with a time of 3:22.46.
Freshman Jada Kamtha added to the scoreboards by placing third in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 9.40. After running a 9.56 in the prelims, Kamtha was able to shave off .16 seconds to take home third place for the Chargers. Along with her success in the 60-meter hurdles, Kamtha dominated in the pit and won the long jump on her fifth jump that landed a mark of 5.14 meters.
The women’s 4×400-meter relay team consisted of Fitch and Johnson, along with senior Micaela Owen and sophomore Deja Harris. The relay team took home the win for the Chargers with a time of 4:16.17.
Sophomore pole vaulter Molly Clark finished second. After clearing the opening height of 2.55m on her first attempt, Clark cleared a height of 2.70 meters on her second attempt, which earned her the second-place mark for New Haven.
Sophomore Gabrielle Teel took home a first-place win for the Chargers in the triple jump. Teel started off strong with an opening mark of 11.53 meters before jumping a winning mark of 11.65 meters on her third attempt. This jump was an NCAA provisional mark and moved Teel into the top spot in the NE-10 and second in the East Regional.
Two throwers added points for the women’s team; junior Isabelle Robinson finished second overall in the shot put with a mark of 11.08 meters on her second throw. Along with Robinson, junior Anita Hodge finished second in the weight throw with her final attempt landing a mark of 13.24 meters.
For the men’s team, junior sprinter Joshua Stewart won the men’s 60-meter dash. After running a 7.25 in the prelims, Stewart was able to shave off .21 seconds to end with a winning time of 7.04. Sophomore distance runner Mohammed Abunar also took first place for the blue and gold in the 3000-meter race with a time of 8:54.67. Junior Daniel Barberio took second place in the 1000-meter by crossing with a time of 2:41.73. New Haven also took home a win in the 5000-meter thanks to junior William Brown, who ran a winning time of 16:06.57.
The men’s 4×400-meter relay team finished third with a time of 3:38.55. The relay team included Stewart, junior Jordan Emile, senior Nile Colson and freshman Caleb Agbor.
The Chargers finished first and third in the men’s pole vault. Sophomore Declan McGrellis took home the win for New Haven by clearing a height of 3.95 meters. Junior Cole Parker took home third by clearing a height of 3.50 meters.
Junior Akin Akinwunmi finished third in the triple jump with a mark of 12.30 meters and freshman Jonah Aguiar finished second overall in shot put with 14.07 meters.
The men’s 4×400-meter relay team – juniors Nathaniel Peters and Jason Lorent, senior Jordany Dely and sophomore Christopher Gregory – set a school record at the team’s second meet of the weekend, the UMass Lowell Riverhawk Invitational with a time of 3:23.30.
The Chargers next travel on Feb. 3 to Boston to compete at the Bruce Lehan Scarlet and White Meet hosted by Boston University. For more information, visit NewHavenChargers.com.