Katherine Harris ’15
Staff Writer
The women’s track and field team once again put together an impressive performance last weekend at the Youngstown State Invitational. With a new school record, along with numerous other top finishes and entrances into the record books, the squad remains consistent in its preparation for the Patriot League Championships, now just two weekends away.
“I thought this weekend was great for our program,” Alex Romanelli ’13 said. “I’m super excited about Leagues in two weeks. Our team has really come a long way since the season has started, and I really believe we’re peaking at the right time.”
The first day of the meet was highlighted by Hana Casalnova ’14 breaking the school record in the 1,000 meters with a time of 1:52.96. With her performance, Casalnova ousted the record time set by teammate Beth Braunegg ’14 just last week by less than one second.
“We continue to get better as a team each and every week, and the Youngstown meet was our best of the season. School records are very hard to get in an established program like ours, however we do have some very good talent and a critical mass of depth to help push each other in workouts which is part of the process when getting a school record,” head coach Kevin Donner said.
Many other Orange and Blue athletes had strong showings on Friday. With performances that led them both to seventh place in the record books, Jennifer Zymet ’14 finished first in the 500 meters with a career best 1:15.69, and Abby Monaghan ’13 came in second in the weight throw with a distance of 53’ 0’’.
As the meet continued on Saturday, the Bison continued to shine. Caroline Tolli ’13 and Emily Liggett ’12 took first and second in the mile, while Braunegg and Sasha Hornock ’13 won the 800 meters and 60 meters, respectively. Emily Ando ’14 had an impressive pole vault of 11’ 3.75’’, which placed her third in the meet and tied for sixth in the school record books, and Romanelli’s triple jump of 37’ 8.5’’, her personal best, won her second in the meet, as well as putting her ninth in school history.
“I was really happy with how well I jumped, and I’m hoping to keep the momentum going into Patriot League Championships,” Romanelli said. “Every weekend we continue to excel and put up better marks. As a result, we’ve been having great success, and I know we all can’t wait to compete in two weeks.”
On Friday, a small portion of the team also headed down the road to the Susquehanna Crusader Classic. There, Eden Wondra ’15 shined in the pole vault, winning the event with a vault of 9’ 6.25’’. Other noteworthy performers included Zoe Gaston ’15 and Stefanie Spanfeller ’14, who took second and fifth respectively in the mile.
The team will compete Saturday in the Bison Winter Classic, the final meet before the Patriot League Indoor Championships.