New York, NY - The University of Hartford men's and women's track and field teams competed in their final warm-ups prior to the America East Championships. The Hawks final tune up came at the Lafayette/Ride Invitational at the NY Armory in New York City. The America East Championship will be held on February 22 and 23 at the Boston University Track and Tennis Center in Boston, MA.
The women's team was led by Ariana Bass who picked up the only individual top-10 finish. Bass posted a season best time of 1:19.13 to finish in fourth overall in the 500-meter dash. The Hawks 4x400-meter and 4x800-meter relay teams also posted season best times. The Hawks 4x400 relay team of Bass, Latasha Jarrett, Sherilyn Nicholas and Kaycee Martinez posted a time of 4:03.21 to finish ninth overall, while the 4x800 relay team on Leanna Godfrey, Stefanie Lombardi, Jacqueline Minkler and Elizabeth Foster posted a time of 9:43.49 to finish fifth.
Lombardi and Nicholas also faired well in their individual events with both picking up top 20 finishes. Lombardi ran a time of 5:16.89 in the mile run, a season best time for her. Nicholas finished the high jump with a top height of 5' 1” to finish in 17th place overall.
On the men's side, the Hawks were led by three top-10 finishes, two on the field side and Warren Lane on the track side. Lane picked up an eighth place finish in the 500-meter dash with a time of 1:05.81. On the field end, Anthony Oluwanifise and Ryan Trupin saw top finishes in the triple jump and high jump respectively. Oluwanifise finished just shy of his season best, set last weekend, with a final distance of 46'3”, finishing sixth. Trupin saw a top height of 6'2”, finishing ninth overall.
In total, the Hawks saw four top 25 finishers in the triple jump. Joining Oluwanifise was Stephan Jospitre (14th, 43'9”), Gregory Giddings (19th, 43' 4”) and Michael Havrilla (23rd, 41' 10”). Oluwanifise also saw a top 25 finish in the long jump where he finished with a distance of 20'8” for 25th place overall.
