UNH track and field hosted their pre-conference meet in Durham on Saturday, welcoming five other schools as they got ready for the America East Championships this upcoming weekend.
The UNH men’s team took third place, as the standings shaped up with UMass Amherst (141 points) in first, followed by UMass Lowell (121), UNH (89), Vermont (75), Maine (57), and Dartmouth (55).
The Wildcats displayed a pair of top finishers in the throwing event as first-year thrower John King Jr. won the javelin throw with a throw of 177’ 6”, and junior Zachary Astle once again won the shot put while throwing 53’ 6.25”. He continues to dominate the circle in the outdoor season.
First-year athlete Emmanuel Nkounkou also continued his hot stretch finishing as the runner-up in the high jump. The freshman capped out at 6’ 0.75”.
On the track, the Wildcats saw a few new personal bests for their athletes. First-year runner Michael Monahan broke his previous best by one-tenth of a second when he ran the 110-meter hurdles in 14.87 seconds, good enough for second-place.
First-year runner Chris Pinkham also finished second and reached a new personal record in the 400-meter dash, finishing in 51.22 seconds. Junior teammate Casey Farrell came in right behind him with a time of 52.82 seconds.
Senior distance runner Davis Clark came in as the runner-up in the 5000-meter race. The four-year athlete surpassed his previous best and finished the race with a time of 14:58.03.
As for the women’s team, they fared similarly to the men, finishing third in team score. The standings shook out with UMass Amherst (153 points) on top, then UMass Lowell (150.5), UNH (100.5), Vermont (57), Dartmouth (48), and Maine (43).
In the throwing events, the women also came through with two first place finishes; sophomore Lauren Quann won the javelin when she threw 123’ 7”, and junior Alyssa Colbert came out on top in the discus, throwing 143’ 10”.
In the lanes, the Wildcats took the top two spots in the 5000-meter race, as they saw first-year runner Sydney Rice come across first with a time of 18:22.40, followed by senior Shannon Stang who ran it in 18:43.71 – a new personal record.
The 4×100 relay team of first-year runner Isabella Livingston, first-year runner Julia Jankowski, sophomore runner Maria Virga, and first-year runner Crismeilly Borg came in second, finishing their run in 49.85 seconds.
Virga also finished in third-place in the 100-meter hurdles when she ran 14.98 seconds.
A pair of first-year athletes also took third in a pair of 400-meter races. Kelly Crawford ran the 400-meter hurdles in 1:07.28, and Kelly Hamlin ran the 400-meter race in 1:02.05.
The Wildcats will continue preparations for the America East Championships which begin on Saturday and will continue into Sunday. The meet will be hosted by Albany University.
