Middletown, CT ? The Hartford Hawks men's and women's track and field teams opened the indoor season competing at the Wesleyan Invitational in Middletown, Connecticut. The day was highlighted by six individual first place finishes and five new school records as there was no team scoring in the event. Hartford will compete in one more indoor meet before the Holiday break, running at the Harvard Invitational on December 9 in Boston, MA.
Stefanie Lombardi, Sherilyn Nicholas and Latasha Jarrett posted the first place finishes on the women's side, while Philip Weinholtz, Anthony Oluwanifise and Jaimaal Munir picked up individual wins on the men's side. The women's 4x800 and 4x400-meter relay teams and the men's 4x800-meter relay team also picked up a first place finishes.
Lombardi was part of a one-three punch in the one mile run with her time of 5:30.69. Elizabeth Foster finished 12 second behind her and third overall with Megan Murphy from WPI in second. Lombardi's time was a new school record for the rookie from North Providence, RI. Nicholas and Jarrett combined to tie for first place in the high jump where both posted a height of 5' 1.25”.
Heather Schoonmaker was the second women's runner to set a new school record with her second place finish in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 20:12.97. The final women's school record performance was from Diana Christopolous in the shot put where she finished in fifth overall with a distance of 32' 10.5”. Other top-five finishes for Hartford included Nicholas (second in the 500-meter run - 1:23.25), Regina Roberts (fourth in the 55-meter dash 28.29), Melanie Wilson (third in the 800-meter run - 2:35.89), Ariana Bass (fifth in the 400-meter dash - 1:02.79) and Stephanie Barbosa (fifth in the high jump - 4' 9.5”).
Weinholtz's first place finish came in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:01.83 overall. The men's other first place finishes came on the field side of the meet with Oluwanifise in the top spot for the long jump with a distance of 21' 6.75” and Munir in first for the triple jump with a distance of 42' 4.75”. Oluwanifise combined with Munir for a one-two punch in the triple jump with his distance of 42' 2.75” good for second place honors.
Weinholtz's time in the 800-meter event was a new school record while Michael Tiroletto's time of 16:15.68 in the 5,000-meter event placed him in first second place in that event but set a new school record.
Other top-five men's finishers include David Slifer (second in the 400-meter run - 52.85), Michael Dionne (fourth in the one mile run ? 4:54.96), Brandon Coleman (fifth I nthe 500-meter run ? 1:10.22), Munir (third in the high jump ? 6' 2”) and Stephan Josprite (fifth in the triple jump ? 40').
