The Women’s Track and Field Team brings home a trophy from Northeast-10 Outdoor Championships, earning their best finish ever.
The meet was two days (Friday, May 3 and Saturday, May 4) and was hosted by American International College.
Throwers led day one with a second-place finish for senior Shraya Manick in the discus throw. Manick scored eight points for the Chargers behind her second-place throw of 43.59 meters. The performance also broke the program record. Freshman Amy Park also scored with a fourth-place mark and personal best in the javelin at 35.18 meters.
Also in the field, senior Alissa Howell placed seventh in the long jump with a leap of 5.40 meters, and sophomore Briana Conyers scored eighth place with 5.34 meters.
On the track, distance scored two points after a seventh-place finish from the 4×800-meter relay team of sophomores Samantha Mathewson, Alejandra Cortez and Danielle Sorrentino, and freshman Olivia Tangney, finishing with a time of 10:10.17 minutes.
Sophomore Ada Udaya beat the field in both the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes to qualify for finals. Howell also qualified in the 100-meter dash, and junior Monica Yanez and Conyers each qualified in the 100-meter hurdles in fourth and eighth place, respectively.
The women scored 17.50 points on day one; New Haven ranks sixth after seven scored events.
On the men’s side, graduate student David Thomas led the way with a win in the long jump. His leap of 7.64 meters shattered the New Haven program record, the NE-10 Championships record and John G. Hoyt Track & Field Complex facility record. He also met NCAA automatic qualifying standards in the event, vaulting into the second seed in all of Division II in the long jump.
On the track, Thomas also finished first in a pair of preliminary events. He qualified for the final in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.78 seconds and beat in the field in his qualifying heat of the 200-meter dash at 22.66 seconds.
For distance, 4×800-meter relay team earned two points with a seventh-place finish of 7:56.38 minutes. The foursome consisted of freshman Sean Grady, Chad Messam, Devin Rose, and junior Christopher Dannenhoffer,
Overall, the men finished day one with 12 points and were in sixth after seven scored events.
On day two for the women, they finished with a team total of 119 points to earn second place.
Udaya, who was also chosen as Athlete of the Year, was a four-time Northeast-10 Champion. She tied the program record and set a new NE-10 Championships mark with a time of 11.69 seconds in the 100-meter dash, then beat the field in the 200-meter dash at 23.94 seconds. Both times met NCAA provisional qualifying standards.
In relays, Conyers, Udaya, Howell and freshman Marshae Holt won an NE-10 crown, breaking the meet record and tying the program mark at 46.84 seconds in the 4×100-meter relay.
In the 4×400-meter relay, the foursome of Yanez, sophomore Ivy Watts, Udaya and Holt also set a new NE-10 Championships record with a winning time of 3:47.34. The Chargers reached NCAA provisional qualifying times in both relays.
Yanez finished fourth in the 100-meter hurdles and third in the 400-meter hurdles, while Conyers placed sixth in the 100-meter hurdles and fourth in the 400-meter event.
Also scoring on the track were Watts, who turned in a seventh-place finish in the 400-meter dash, and Howell, who placed eighth in the 100-meter dash. For distance, Mathewson recorded five points with a fifth-place time of 12:10.80 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
In the field, Conyers placed second in the triple jump with an NCAA provisional qualifying leap of 11.99 meters. Sophomore Tiara Mitchell and Howell placed fifth and seventh in the event.
Manick won a Northeast-10 Championship with a heave of 49.72 meters in the hammer throw. Manick, who also placed second in the discus on Friday, rounded out her weekend with a third-place toss of 11.90 meters in the shot put.
On the men’s side, they finished with a total of 56 points in sixth place. Thomas won the 100-meter dash in record time of 10.65 seconds, and the 200-meter dash with a time of time of 21.58 seconds. Thomas was named the NE-10 Athlete of the Year and the Championship Most Valuable Player. Thomas also earned five points for the team in the triple jump, finishing fourth with a leap of 13.97 meters.
Freshman Taylor DenBleyker and Jordan Rippe also earned individual points. DenBleyker recorded a season-best time and a second place finish in the 400-meter hurdles. He earned eight points as the top-finishing freshman with a time of 55.44 seconds. Rippe came in fifth place in the hammer throw with a toss of 44.22 meters.
A pair of relay teams also competed. The 4×400 meter relay team of sophomore Nazim Roberts-Smith, Dannenhoffer, DenBleyker and sophomore Joseph Kingston placed fifth with a time of 3:22.22. The 4×100 meter relay team of Thomas, Dannenhoffer, Roberts-Smith and Kingston placed sixth with a time of 43.67 seconds.
The Chargers return to the track this weekend at the New England Outdoor Track and Field Championships hosted by Stonehill from May 9-11 in Easton, Mass.
