Dominance was the theme for the day at the Reggie Atkins Track & Field Facility this weekend as the men and women’s track and field teams battled for two first-place victories.
The women’s team finished in first with 220 points overall. Maine finished with 154 points, Umass Lowell with 140, and Holy Cross with 117. The ‘Cats had a superb 11 first-place finishes with multiple new personal records set. Sabrina Anderson recorded a personal record in the pole vault with a height of 11 feet, 7.75 inches which earned first place. Chelsey Serrano also came in first place with a personal record, completing the 3,000-meter steeplechase to the time of 10:59.12. Hannah Kimball won the 5,000 with her new best of 17:33.57.
“That’s the key, you’ve got to have people in every event, if you want to win dual and tri-meets, or quad meets, you got to have everyone to fill all the holes. That depth for covering all the holes was big for both programs,” coach Jim Boulanger said on both the men and women’s team.
While first-place finishes are spectacular, great depth is also needed at these meets in order to score enough points to secure a victory, and the ‘Cats have shown they have plenty of depth. The high jump squad secured the top four heights with jumps from Rachel Morrison, Jeannette Mara, Shelby Strickland and Tessa Artruc.
Running deep in the 100-meter dash as well, Lauren Perrodin (12.09), Sydney Kay (12.11), and Jessica Hackett (12.25) went first, second and third respectively. Kay also placed first in the 200 with a time of 25.18 seconds.
Kay and Perrodin both took first place in their events and were also big contributors to the 4×100-meter relay team that won with a time of 48.76. Hackett and Danielle Gajewski were also a part of that team.
Depth was also shown in the men’s first place finish at the quad meet. The ‘Cats bested Umass, Maine, and Holy Cross with 191.5 points. UMass finished second with 175.5 points.
The team enjoyed six first-place finishes. Michael Shanahan in the hammer throw (194’ 7”), Joel Nkounkou in long the jump (20’ 10.75”) and Alex Tamulonis in the pole vault ( 14’ 11.50”) provided three first-place finishes in the field events.
As for the track events, Brendan McCarthy won the 1,500 in a time of 4:05.91, a new personal record, beating his old time by 1.54 seconds.
“[McCarthy] had a really good meet, plus as a captain he was supportive of everyone and cheering everyone on, just doing a great job,” Boulanger said on his senior distance runner. The old personal record stood for two seasons and McCarthy has been bouncing back nicely this past indoor season and continues to do so this spring.
Freshman distance runner Brett Hoerner continued his success with a solid first-place performance in the 800, crossing the finish line in 1:56.14. This was his first attempt at an outdoor 800-meter race. Junior Drew Piazza stayed consistent as well, hopping in the 400 to win it with a new personal best of 49.69.
Aside from the first-place finishes, the ‘Cats showed their depth once again with 10 second-place finishes on the day, providing a substantial amount of points needed to win.
Be sure to check out the track teams as they compete in Durham this upcoming weekend on Saturday April 16 as they host the Wildcat Invitational. The meet starts at 11 a.m. at the Reggie Atkins Track & Field Facility.
