This past weekend was busy for the University of New Hampshire’s (UNH) track and field team, as they competed in the Ocean State Invitational on Friday, April 9 and hosted Maine on Sunday, April 11.
UNH traveled down to Providence, Rhode Island on Friday to compete in a multi-team meet at Ray Treacy Track at Hendricken Field. The UNH men’s team had runners in the 800-meter and one mile run. The UNH women’s team had runners in the 800, one mile run, and in the 3000-meter dash.
In the men’s 800 graduate student Matthew Adams had a fifth-place finish with a final time of 1 minute, 52.87 seconds. This was a special performance for Adams as this was his second-best finish in an outdoor competition.
UNH had a better chance of finishing first in the mile run as they had four runners compete in this event. Senior James Wilkes led UNH with a time of 4:07.20 and a fourth-place finish. Right behind Wilkes was his teammate, graduate student Nicolas Sevilla-Connelly who had a time of 4:07.87. Trailing Sevilla-Connelly was his teammate, senior Aidan Sullivan who finished the mile run with a time of 4:08.97. Senior Dylan McLaughlin had a bit of a disappointing run being that he finished in 25th with a time of 4:25.09.
Moving onto the women’s side of things, they saw many amazing performances by their runners on Friday. In the 800, sophomore Cailey Archer recorded a seventh-place finish with a final time of 2:20.40.
The mile run was the highlight of the day for UNH as first-year athlete Elizabeth Martell had her collegiate mile run debut. Martell was the ‘Cats top finisher with a time of 4:49.74 which was good enough to earn a fourth-place finish. Finishing in ninth place was the captain, senior Cayla Barretto who ran a time of 4:53.43. Behind Barretto were juniors Nicole Yeomans and Lauren Dean who had times of 4:55.55 and 5:01.11 which placed them in 11th and 14th place. Yeomans and Dean also earned themselves personal records during Friday’s mile run.
The last event the ‘Cats competed in was the 3000. Leading the ‘Cats in the 3000 was graduate student Meg Champagne who secured a fifth place finish while finishing with a time of 10:00.04. Graduate student Michelle Conery came in 10th place while grabbing a new personal record with a time of 10:09.94.
With little rest, UNH had to compete once again on Sunday as they hosted Maine. On the men’s side, UNH won seven individual events but they couldn’t get enough total points to defeat Maine resulting in a 153-125 loss.
Starting off in the field, junior John King Jr. led UNH in first place in the javelin with a throw of 182 feet, three inches. Junior Emmanuel Nkounkou earned a first-place victory in the high jump with 6 3/4 feet.
Junior Nate Hobbs was also victorious in Sunday’s meet as he saw a first-place finish in his events. Hobbs had a leap of 24 3/4 feet in the long jump.
Moving onto the track, sophomore Aidan O’Hern captured a new personal record in the 1500-meter dash as he ran a time of 3:58.97. Another first-place victory was won by senior Michael Monahan in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.23 seconds.
Wilkes led UNH on Friday in Providence while earning a fourth-place finish in the mile run and he continued to bring that same type of success into this event. Wilkes grabbed a first-place finish in the 800 with a final time of 1:50.86.
The UNH women’s team found more success than the men’s team on Sunday as they beat Maine 145-119. UNH earned 11 first-place victories on the day.
In the field, graduate student Allysa Colbert broke the UNH school record in the discus which she previously owned with a throw of 157 feet, four inches. In the pole vault senior Jordan Hoffman was UNH’s only competitor in this event and was the top finisher while recording a score of 11 feet, 2 1/2 inches. In the long jump UNH took the top four spots, first-year athlete Mia Taranko led the group with a jump of 17 feet, 5 1/4 inches.
The last victory in the field came by junior Sarah Williams who won the shot put event with a throw of 41’11.25.
On the track, UNH had a dominant day as they won a total of seven events. Starting off on the 4×100-meter relay, the team of sophomore Meline Almasian, junior Savannah Vartabedian, senior Kelly Crawford and junior Sage Tudisco earned a first-place finish with a final time of 49.53 seconds.
In the 1500, UNH had the first six-place finishes in the event with graduate student Meg Champagne leading the group while running a time of 4:44.93.
In the 100-meter dash, Tudisco helped her team win another event as she ran a time of 15.55 seconds which earned her a first-place finish.
In the 400-meter dash, UNH took the top three spots in the event with Martell leading the ‘Cats with a time of 57.63 seconds.
In the 800, Barretto earned herself a first-place finish by running a time of 2:51.61.
Junior Jennika Mannesto led UNH in the 3000 as she ran a time of 10:31.75.
The last victory of the day came by the 4×400-relay team which consisted of Archer, Yeomans, Dean and Martell.
The men’s team looks to get back on track next week while the women’s team looks to continue their success as they both travel to Lowell, Massachusetts to face UMass Lowell at the George Davis Invitational.
Photo courtesy of China Wong.
