UNH Track & Field hosted Maine, Bentley, and Holy Cross this past Saturday in their home opener for the outdoor season. The Wildcats took home 21 first place finishes in the 38 total events for men and women, en route to wins for both sides.
On the men’s side, they saw 11 wins among the 19 events, helping the team reach 222.50 points for the day, followed by Maine at 184, Bentley at 103, and Holy Cross at 79.50 points.
Five of the wins came from first-year athletes, including Nate Hobbs who took first in the long jump and the triple jump; Hobbs tallied 23’ 6.75” and 43’ 6.50” respectively. First-year athlete Brian Genet also took first in the high jump, topping out at 5’ 8.75”
Another pair of underclassmen taking first in the field events were sophomore Jon Chapman in the hammer throw, and first-year John King Jr. in the javelin. Chapman threw 184’ 1”, and King Jr. threw 180’ 3” in his victory.
What shouldn’t come as a surprise anymore, junior Zachary Astle once again took home first place and found himself a new personal best. Astle won the shot put and threw 55’ 10.50” – surpassing his previous best of 55’ 3.50”. After his victory on Saturday, Astle talked about his success early in the day, “It’s definitely good to be home, I very much like the circle here … I always go by the saying, I’m happy but I’m not satisfied.”
Heading over to the track, a pair of sophomores and juniors finished first respectively in each of their events; sophomore Dylan McLaughlin won the 3000-meter steeplechase in 10:17.28, and sophomore Michael Monahan came out victorious in the 110-meter hurdles in 14.97 seconds.
Junior Jack Crawford won the 800-meter in under a minute – 59.34 seconds to be exact. In the 3000-meter race, junior Nicholas Brown won and finished in 8:53.03.
Taking home first in the 1500-meter was first-year Spenser Sawyer. Sawyer finished his run in 4:02.63.
In the women’s events, the Wildcats took home 10 of the 19 events on Saturday. New Hampshire won the meet with 206 points, then Maine with 184, Holy Cross with 150, and Bentley with just 57.
Junior Alyssa Colbert won the discus throw, with a throw of 148’ 4”. This now stands as the new school record, surpassing the previous record of 148’ 1” set by Emily Wernig in 2016.
Other Wildcats who threw for the win include first-year athlete Sara Williams and sophomore Lauren Quann. Williams won the shot put after throwing 40’ 4.25”. Quann took the win in the javelin with a distance of 133’ 8”.
Another first year athlete, Saige TuDisco, came out on top after her go at the high jump; TuDisco won with a jump of 5’ 5”.
On the track, first-year runner Alyssa Doust took home the win in not one, but two different events this weekend. Doust won the 100-meter in 12.46 seconds, and the 200-meter in 25.96 seconds.
Three more Wildcats had wins on the track on Saturday. Sophomore Cayla Barretto won the 800-meter in 2:20.63, junior Michaella Conery took the 1500-meter in 4:45.49, and sophomore Maria Virgo finished first in the 100-metere hurdles in 14.68 seconds.
The underclassmen 4×100 relay team of Doust, Virgo, first-year Crismeily Borg, and first-year Zakiya Scott won their event, finishing in 50.13 seconds.
On Friday, the Wildcats will head to Rhode Island for the Providence Invitational. The next home meet will come the following day, Saturday, April 13 at 11:00 a.m. when the ‘Cats will host Maine and Bates.
