Middletown, CT ? The University of Hartford men's and women's track teams returned to action on Saturday to compete at the Wesleyan Cardinal Invitational, the only meet held in the Nutmeg state during this indoor season. The event was not team scored, however the Hawks finished with a total of 38 top-five finishes between both squads, while combining to win a season-high nine events.
Melanie Wilson, Nicolle Adams and Elizabeth Foster led the women's squad, bringing home individual wins in the track events on Saturday. Wilson dominated the 800-meter run clocking in with a time of 2:26.32 ? over five seconds ahead of the next runner, Karina Johnson of ECSU. The junior was also a member of the 4x800-meter relay team ? along with Adams, Cat Ficht and Larisa Woykovsky ? that took first place honors.
Adams, a rookie from Schoharie, NY, was part of a one-two punch in the 55-meter hurdles events, with junior Kaycee Martinez finishing second. Leading up to the final heat, Martinez posted a time of 8.39 in the preliminaries, shattering the school record for the second time this season. In the finals, Adams recorded a time of 9.02, while Martinez crossed the finish line at 9.06. The duo also joined forces with teammates Ariana Bass and Kristalena Lamore to take home a victory in the 4x200-meter relay medley that just nearly missed breaking the school record by five-tenths of a second. The women's 4x400-meter team ? consisting of Bass, Martinez, Marisa Poleto and Nicole Dow ? also took home top-billing on Saturday afternoon.
The Hawks' sixth individual victory came from senior Elizabeth Foster in the 3,000-meter run. The Hartford women swept the top-three finishes in the event, with Stefanie Lombardi and Leanna Godfrey taking the two and three spots with times of 11:07.53 and 11:23.34, respectively. Foster, however, torched the 3,000-meter run, crossing the line with a time of 10:20.70, breaking the school record which was set by Lombardi in 2007 by almost nine seconds.
Poleto also saw success in the track events, posting top-five finishes in the 400-meter run and the 200-meter dash. The sophomore placed second in the 400-meter run (1:00.56), while finishing the 200-meter dash in a time of 27.18 for a third place performance in the event. Martinez joined Poleto in the 400-meter event, closing out the top-five with a time of 1:03.7. Rounding out the top-five finishers for the Hartford women in the track events was sophomore Raquel Payne who saw a fourth place finish in the 55-meter dash (7.82), and Bass, who placed third in the 600-meter dash posting a time of 1:34.04.
Kristalena Lamore, Miranda Wallace, Stephanie Barbosa and Adams posted top-five finishes on the field side for the Hawks. Lamore finished second overall in the long jump with a distance of 5.02-meters, while Wallace placed fourth in the event, leaping for a distance of 4.72-meters. Wallace was also successful in the triple jump event, rounding out the top-five with a distance of 9.37-meters. Adams and Barbosa tied for third in the high jump with heights of 1.43-meters.
Highlighting the men's team were two victories in the 4x400-meter and 4x200-meter medley relays. The 4x400-meter team ? Eric Ciccone, Matt Le, Brandon Coleman and Warren Lane ? completed the relay in a time of 3:37.09. Christopher Carr, Christian Ehigiator, Anthony Oluwanifise and Anderson Emerole were members of the 4x200-meter team that out-ran Wesleyan by one second for a first place finish (1:34.34).
Rookie Nigel Nimoh and Adam Wells finished one-two for the Hawks in the 55-meter hurdles event. Nigel posted a time of 8.34, smashing the school record time of 8.43 set by Chris Hayes in 2001, while Wells trailed just behind with a time of 8.41. Nimoh saw the most success for the Hawks on Saturday with a second place performance in the long jump (6.32-meters), a third place finish in the triple jump (13.03-meters), and a fourth place finish in the high jump with a height of 1.76-meters.
Junior Stephan Jospitre joined Nimoh in the top-five for the triple jump. Jospitre recorded a distance of 12.66-meters for a fourth place finish in the event. In the high jump, senior Ryan Trupin tied for second, recording a height of 1.86-meters. Rounding out the Hartford top-five finishers in the field events was Brien Woodaman. The senior threw the 35-pound weight for a distance of 12.05-meters, finishing third in the event.
Oluwanifise continued his impressive senior campaign leading the Hawks in the track events with a third place performance in the 55-meter dash (6.80) and a fourth place finish in the 200-meter dash (23.70). Finishing ahead of Oluwanifise in the 200-meter dash event in the second and third spots were Emerole and Lane, posting times of 23.55 and 23.59, respectively. Additionally, Lane took home a second place finish in the 400-meter run, crossing the finish line with a time of 52.70.
Rounding out the top-five finishes for the track events was Matt Le, Andrew Chalmers and Eric Flaman. Le, a sophomore, posted a time of 2:04.44 in the 800-meter run for a fourth place finish, while Chalmers also placed fourth in the one-mile run with a time of 4:36.75. Flaman's time of 10:30.34 in the 3,000-meter run was good enough for a fourth place finish in the event.
Both the men's and women's squads will return to action on Friday, February 13th for their final tune-up before the America East Championships held on the following weekend. The Hawks will compete at the Rider/Lafayette Invitational, held at the New York City Armory.
