The Hartford men's and women's track & field teams fought hard and finished with some strong individual performances at the Jay Carisella Invite this weekend in Boston.

As a group, the men finished 6^th while the women finished 7^th out of seven teams scored on each side. Many of the other schools in competition were not scored, which makes the individual performances from Hartford all the more impressive.

"Today was really important to see where some of our better performers are at this time of year," head coach Roger Busch said. "It is key for me and Coach (Richard) Warren to see them perform in this environment and see where we might be able to score some points at conference."

Standing out amongst the group was sophomore Ellie Donlon, who ran to a personal-best time of 10:34.29, which shatters her previous best mark by nearly ten seconds, in the women's 3k meter finals. Also making a strong impression was junior Dom DiCarlo, who sprinted to a near-personal best time in the men's 60-meter dash, logging a 7.18 finish in the final after finishing seventh in the qualifier in a highly competitive battle with the field.

Again making his name known was senior Robert Pepper, who placed third in the men's triple jump with a finishing distance of 13.26 meters. Pepper has been a big-time performer for the Hawks in the season's first two meets, taking first place in men's triple jump against Vermont at last weekend's dual meet.

"He was consistent throughout the competition, jumping over six meters on five of six jumps," Busch said. "(Robert) jumped 1'5" feet further this weekend compared to the Vermont dual."
Maggie Fuller again performed well for Hartford, finishing eighth in a very competitive field in the women's high jump, logging a jump of 1.60 meters. Fuller has been the Hawks' top female field performer early in the season.

"Maggie jumped well today," Busch said. "She is showing consistency at higher crossbars.  Maggie is competing at a high level early in the season."

Hartford's "A" relay squads went above and beyond Busch's expectations in Boston, finishing 3^rd and 5^th in both relay events. In the men's 4x800 meter relay, the team composed of junior Rourk Marlow, sophomore Evan Jaworski, sophomore Lawrence Yancey, and freshman Xavier Flowers ran out to an 8:23.11 finish in the finals, which placed them third in a tightly contested battle. The men's 4x400 relay, made up of juniors Alex Paterson, Myles Mabry, Hansy Monrose, and Justin Crump-King finished 5^th with a time of 3:34.11 in the final.

Sophomore Briana Burt continued her early season successes, equaling a personal best in the women's 60-meter prelims. Freshman Julianna Wesley finished 8^th in the women's mile run, logging a 5:23.50 performance which made her the Hawk's top female finisher in that competition, while senior Chris Helminski finished 7^th on the men's side with a time of 4:26.04.

Rounding out competition was Thomas Mantel's strong performance in men's long jump, posting a 6.14 meter mark. The freshman jumped 7" further this weekend compared to his performance in Burlington.

Busch is sending his student-athletes home for winter break, but that does not come without assigned workloads for the group while at home for the holidays.
"Short sprints and jumps need to focus on the weight room," Busch said. "Long sprints and distance need to be creative and make sure they are getting their runs and workouts in. The goal is for them to come back to campus in better shape than they are in today."

The Hawks take flight again at the Joe Donahue Games in mid-January.