University of Southern Maine (USM) track & field hosted the University of New Hampshire (UNH) and the University of Maine this past Friday and Saturday. The UNH women secured four first-place finishes in 19 events this weekend, while the men’s team saw six first-place finishes out of the 19 events.  

Starting off on the women’s side of things, UNH had two first-place finishes in the pole vault and one first-place finish in the weight throw. Senior Jordan Hoffman saw a first-place finish in the pole vault with a height of 10-11 3/4 feet; there were also two more athletes tying for first place in this event, however. UNH sophomore Danielle Heine as well as USM junior Sophia Slovenski resulted in a three-way tie for first place in the pole vault.  

UNH junior Sarah Williams earned first-place finish in the weight throw, throwing for a distance of 53-9 1/4 feet.  

Moving to the track, the women’s team excelled in the 400-meter dash securing first-place. First-year athlete Sarah Morin took first place in the 400 with a time of 1 minute, 0.78 seconds, with three of her teammates finishing right behind her.  

UNH also won first place in the 4×400 meter relay with a team consisting of juniors Crismeily Borg, Alyssa Doust, Kelly Hamlin and Zakiya Scott. They finished with a time of 4:12.98; this run was slightly slower than previous runs, however, it was still good enough to earn first place.  

For the men, senior Jacob Dearborn placed first in the weight throw, heaving for a distance of 51-5 3/4 feet. Dearborn came just short of beating his personal record of 52-2 1/2 last February. UNH had a close second-place finish of 51- 1 1/2 feet thrown by junior Patrick Brogioli.  

On the track, first-year athlete Joseph McElroy captured a first-place finish in the 800-meter dash, while also finding himself a new personal record of 1:59.37.  

UNH had another first-place finish in the 55-meter hurdles. Senior Michael Monahan had a fantastic run at the 55 hurdles, securing a time of 7.89 seconds. Monahan finished 0.12 seconds faster than the second-place finisher, and 1.54 seconds faster than the third-place finisher.  

The men’s team also found success in the long jump and in the triple jump. Sophomore Nathan Hobbs found himself in first place in the long jump, with his best jump measuring at 23-3 1/2 feet. Nothing too surprising here as Hobbs has already seen eight first-place finishes in his first two years at UNH.  

In the triple jump senior Jordan Buckmire also secured a first-place finish with a jump measuring 46-6 3/4 feet.  

The full schedule has yet to be released for both the men’s and women’s track and field.  

Photo courtesy of Michael Monahan.