By Katherine Harris
Writer
The women’s track and field team came away with five ECAC qualifiers and a new school record last weekend in the Bison Open & Multi and Penn State National Invitational.
On Friday and Saturday, many of the top Bison athletes traveled to the Penn State National Invitational to race, throw and jump against some very tough competition. Highlighting the meet was Beth Braunegg ’14, who claimed the top spot in program history for the 1000 meters with a time of 2:53:73. With this time she beat the previous record by .17 and claimed fourth in the race.
Hana Casalnova ’13 in the 800, Braunegg and Caroline Tolli ’13 in the 1000 Emily Liggett ’12 in the 3000 and the distance medley relay team all secured ECAC qualifying times.
“Our women had a very nice weekend. We seemed much more confident than we were for the Gulden Invitational and we had quite a few season best marks,” head coach Kevin Donner said. “I believe the hard work we did in early January is now paying off.”
Many of the members of the Orange and Blue squad also remained at home this weekend, participating in the Bison Open & Multi. Though the meet was not scored to produce an overall team winner, there were many impressive performances all around by the Bison.
Alexandra Romanelli ’14 won the triple jump at 37 ft, 6.75 inches, putting her tenth all-time in school history. Romanelli also tied for first in the long jump along with teammate Alyssa Cardillo ’14. Abby Monaghan ’13 won the weight throw with a throw of 50 ft, 6.75 inches.
Winners of the track events included Katie Jessee ’15 in the mile, Kim Nagotko ’15 in the 400 and Kylie Pearse ’15 in the 1000.
“I was very happy with my performance. I achieved my goal for the meet of breaking three minutes in the 1000 meters,” Pearse said. “As a team our main goal is to win Patriot Leagues. That being said, there is always room for improvement. Every second and every inch of improvement brings us closer and closer to achieving our goal.”
Next weekend the Bison will continue their season at the Youngstown State Invitational on Friday and Saturday, competing on an oversized indoor track that should lead to fast times.
“I think we are gaining essential confidence and building momentum for the Patriot League Championships coming up in a few weekends,” Tolli said. “We are excited to be back under one roof for competition next weekend at Youngstown and keep the momentum going.”