Storrs, CT ? The University of Hartford track and field teams continued its 2009 outdoor campaign, competing at the University of Connecticut Alumni Invitational on Saturday in Storrs. Senior Elizabeth Foster and junior Kaycee Martinez led the way for the Hawks picking up top-three finishes on the afternoon.
Foster saw the top finish of the day for Hartford with a second place finish in the 5000-meter run. The senior clocked in with a time of 17:43.79, shattering the school outdoor record in the 5k distance.
Martinez also scored top-three finishes in the track events, placing third in both of the hurdles events. The junior raced to a 15.37 finish in the 100-meter hurdles, while finishing the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:06.04. Joining Martinez in the top finishers for the 400-meter hurdles was classmate Ariana Bass, who placed fifth with her time of 1:08.78.
In the 100-meter dash, freshman Kenterra Richardson and sophomore Raquel Payne took eighth and ninth, respectively. Richardson clocked in at 13.24 while Payne crossed at 13.57. Nicole Dow also saw a top-10 finish for the Hawks with her time of 2:25.80 in the 800-meter run, taking 10th in the event. Finishing just shy of the top-10 performers in the 800-meter was junior Melanie Wilson, who recorded a time of 2:26.43 in the middle distance event.
The Hawks' 4x400-meter women's relay team ? consisting of Bass, Marisa Poleto, Dow and Martinez ? scored a fifth place performance, finishing just behind UMass at 4:04.87.
In the field events, the Hartford women were led by rookie Kristalena Lamore and Nicolle Adams. The teammates scored top-10 finishes in both the triple jump and the long jump events. In the triple jump, Lamore boasted sixth (10.37-meters) and Adams placed seventh (10.32-meters). In the long jump, Lamore reached a distance of 5.16-meters to land a fourth place finish in the event while Adams placed sixth, recording a distance of 4.98-meters. Freshman Miranda Wallace also saw success in the long jump, posting a distance of 4.68-meters to finish ninth in the event.
Rebecca Perry and Flake Gjonbalaj were successful in their respective throwing events on Saturday. Perry, a freshman, placed ninth in the hammer throw (30.82-meters) and 10th in the discus throw (24.04-meters). Gjonbalaj scored eighth in the discus with her throw of 26.75-meters.
For the Hartford men, freshman Anderson Emerole led the Hawks with a sixth place finish in the 100-meter dash. The rookie finished with a time of 11.34. Sophomore Christian Ehigaitor just nicked the top 10, finishing in 11.48 for an 11th place finish in the event. Emerole also saw success in the 200-meter run, clocking in at 22.89 for a ninth place finish in the middle distance event.
The 400-meter run and 400-meter hurdles saw top-10 finishes for the Hawks as sophomore Eric Ciccone placed ninth in the run (51.87) and classmate Bill Stochmal took home a sixth place finish in the hurdles recording a time of 58.73.
Two top-10 finishes by junior Stephan Jospitre highlighted the field events for the Hartford men. Jospitre ranked ninth in the long jump and fourth in the triple jump, scoring distances of 6.11-meters and 12.99-meters, respectively. Senior Ryan Trupin also saw success in the field events, tying for eighth place with a height of 1.84-meters in the high jump.
The University of Hartford men and women outdoor track and field teams will return to action on Saturday, April 11 at the University of Massachusetts Invitational in Amherst, MA.
