New Hampshire Track and Field was back home once again this past weekend for the UNH Wildcat Invitational. Both the men’s and the women’s teams took care of business, taking home first place for the second straight week.
The men finished in first with 157 points, followed by Maine in second place, and Bates in third; each finishing with 118 points, and 89 points respectively.
Junior thrower Zachary Astle has become a staple at the top of the shot-put standings each week. Astle took home first once again this weekend when he threw 54’ 1”. Finishing right behind Astle was senior Hani Traboulsi, who threw 50’ 1.75”. Traboulsi also won the discus throw, throwing 144’ 5”.
A pair of first-year athletes, Nate Hobbs and Emmanuel Nkounkou, dominated at the weekend event. The two tied for first place in the high jump; each of them topping out at 6’ 2.75”. The Wildcat teammates found themselves atop the leaderboard in the long jump as well; Hobbs took first, jumping 23’ 0.5”, and Nkounkou finished in second at 21’ 6” – a new personal best.
New Hampshire saw a pair of their athletes finish in the top two of the triple jump as well; sophomore Jordan Buckmire won with a jump of 48’ 6.25”. Once again Nate Hobbs landed up near the top of the standings, as he finished second, and reset his personal best to 45’ 1”.
First-year William Shepard won the pole vault, adding to the list of first place finishes for the Wildcats, with a personal best distance of 14’ 1.25”.
On the track, the ‘Cats also saw a few new personal bests for their runners. Sophomore Aidan Sullivan broke his record when he won the 1500-meter in 3:58.46. Junior Joseph Hook broke two of his previous bests in the 100-meter, and the 200-meter. Hook won the 100-meter in 11.4 seconds and was the runner up in the 200-meter in 22.88 seconds.
Fifth-year runner Timothy Kennefick won the 3000-meter race, finishing in 8:49.83.
Taking a look at the women’s events from Saturday, New Hampshire ended the day in first place with 156 points, followed by Maine with 122, and the Bates with 87.
Leading the way for UNH was junior thrower Alyssa Colbert. Colbert came out on top in both the hammer throw and the discus – throwing 149’ 3” and 137’ 6” respectively.
First-year athlete Sara Williams finished right behind her teammate in the discus, with a throw of 124’ 2”. Williams also won the shot-put after throwing 41’ 5.25”.
Junior Natalie Howes also got in on the action when she won the javelin throw. The junior won with a throw of 125’ 6”.
Another first-year athlete, Saige TuDisco, shined for the ‘Cats. TuDisco showed her versatility over the weekend as she won the high jump and the 100-meter hurdles. She capped out at 5’ 3” in the high jump and ran the 100-meter hurdles in 15.13 seconds.
Another first place finish for New Hampshire came from junior Madeline Quigley, who led the pack, and finished the 1500-meter in 4:51.42.
The Wildcat 4×400 relay team of senior Emileigh Glode, first-years Kelly Hamlin and freshman Zakiya Scott and junior Brianne Moss won their race as well as well on Saturday. The relay team finished their run in 4:02.56.
On Friday the ‘Cats will head to Princeton for the Larry Ellis Invitational, where they look to extend their streak of first place finishes.
