Category: Track & Field

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Sports Track & Field Women

Women’s track comes away with trio of golds

By Katherine Harris

Writer

After winning the indoor Patriot League title in the winter, the women’s track and field team started off its outdoor season strong last Saturday with many impressive performances at the Towson Invitational.

“After the layoff between the indoor and outdoor season, I was very pleased with the result,” head coach Kevin Donner said. “We looked at this first outdoor meet more as a rust-buster and did not worry too much about times and distances.”

Even with the team not as worried about individual times and distances, there were still many shining moments on the day in Towson, Md. The Bison ended the meet with three gold medals, including a time of 48.43 seconds in the 4 x 100 meter relay that missed breaking into the program top-10 list by one hundredth of a second.

Another of the victories for the Orange and the Blue came from Rebecca Misko ’12 with her throw of 41.44 meters in the discus. Her mark was closely contested by teammate Abby Monaghan ’13, whose second-place throw of 41.43 meters just barely missed Misko’s distance.

The Bison continued their success in throwing events as they took the second through fourth spots in the javelin. Tayler Siegrist ’13 led her teammates with a throw of 137’ 8’’, while Sarah Trahan ’12 threw 127’ 5’’ and Erin Norris ’15 came in at 125’ 8’’.

In the pole vault Yanelis Mestre ’15 earned sixth in the school records books with a career best 11’ 1.75’’. Mestre earned the fourth place spot in the meet, while Autumn Schellenberger ’14 grabbed fifth on the day.

The Orange and Blue also had strong performances on the track, with Hana Casalnova ’14 leading the way with her winning time of 4:38.19 in the 1500 meters. Casalnova was also followed in the event by teammates Emily Waksmunski ’14, placing fourth, and Stephanie Fulmer ’12, coming in at fifth.

“I thought that the team performed really well in the meet this weekend,” Beth Braunegg ’14 said. “We are ahead of where we were last year at this time so this is setting us up for a strong showing at the league meet in a few weeks.”

The Bison also had three members place in the 800 meters. Braunegg led the way with her time of 2:16:09, while Caroline Tolli ’13 came in close behind in third at 2:16:70. Rounding out the top five was Emily Liggett ’12, whose 2:18:29 earned her the fifth spot in the race.

“We just wanted to be competitive, which we were,” Donner said. “The times and distances will come as we get into mid-season form by mid-April. Next weekend … will give us a good gauge on where we are at as a team.”

The team will seek to continue to improve its marks this weekend at the Colonial Relays, taking place on Friday and Saturday at William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va.

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Sports Track & Field Women

Women’s track impresses at IC4A Championships

Katherine Harris

Writer

This past weekend, select members of the women’s track and field team finished out the indoor season with a trip to Boston for the IC4A/ECAC Championships, where the women competed against the top athletes on the East Coast.

“It was a very up and down weekend for the women’s team at ECAC’s. Some of our athletes were on and others were off,” head coach Kevin Donner said. “There were some inconsistencies as well as some bad luck.”

While none of the Bison scored in the meet, there were many strong performances. Emily Liggett ’12 had an impressive final meet, shattering her career best in the 3,000 meters by almost eight seconds. Her performance exceeded her seed considerably and moved her into fourth in the school record books with a time of 9:50.93.

Hana Casalnova ’14 also broke the school record in the 1,000 meters. In the trials on Saturday, she recorded a time of 2:52.33. She unfortunately tripped in the final race on Sunday, but she still finished ninth overall and just missed out on contributing to Bison scoring.

Jennifer Zymet ’14 ran the 200 meters in 25.22 puts her as the third fastest in school history.

Many other members of the Bison also just missed qualifying times for the finals, including the 4 x 800 relay team. The distance medley relay team also broke the school record with a time of 11:59.78, barely missing the final qualifying time.

The Orange and Blue will now look to regroup as they begin to prepare for their outdoor season. Their first spring meet will be the Towson Invitational in Towson, Md. on March 31.

“I believe there was a little bit of a mental letdown after being so mentally high after winning the Patriot League title a couple weeks ago. We now need to regroup and get ready for the outdoor season,” Donner said. 

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Featured Sports Track & Field Women

Women’s track earns 14th program title

By Katherine Harris

Writer

The women’s track and field team won the Patriot League Indoor Championships at Gerhard Fieldhouse last weekend, coming back from a 23-point deficit going into the final day of competition. The victory was the 14th in program history.

“I was absolutely thrilled with the team. I am so proud of everyone and I could not have asked for a better way to finish the indoor season,” Sarah Bella ’12 said. “Absolutely, having the championships at home was awesome. The energy from the crowd definitely helped the team and gave us the support we needed to go for the win.”

Bella led the way for the Bison as she grabbed their first victory of the weekend with a win in the shot put. Her 47’ 0.75’’ throw also put her second all-time in program history. Rebecca Misko ’12 also took fifth in the event for the Orange and Blue.

Emily Ando ’14 and Autumn Schellenberger ’14 took the top two spots in the pole vault while Alexandra Romanelli ’13 and Jessica Matsinger ’15 took second and fourth respectively in the triple jump.

Caroline Tolli ’13 and Beth Braunegg ’14 took first and third in the 1000 meters, and Tolli added a third-place spot in the distance medley and a fifth-place spot in the mile.

“I am so proud of our team,” Tolli said. “Everyone contributed in some way to these wins and we are all excited about accomplishing our team goal. To win a championship is special; to win both at home was simply incredible!”

The Bison also excelled in the 800 meters as Hana Casalnova ’14, Chelsea Lodato ’14, and Emily Waksmunski ’14 placed second, fourth and fifth respectively. Other highlights for the Orange and Blue included second-place finishes by Taylor Funk ’12 in the 60-meter hurdles and Sasha Hornock ’13 in the 60 meters, and a team 4×400 meters victory.

The Bison finished with 164 points, 40 points ahead of No. 2 Navy, and head coach Kevin Donner won the Coach of the Year award. The team kept an undefeated record of having won six out of six Patriot League Indoor Championships at home.

“Our ladies did an outstanding job staying focused throughout the entire weekend and recognized the big picture of a three-day meet.  Although we were behind by quite a few points after day two, we knew that Navy had completed their best events and that we were set up well for day three,” Donner said. “The cheering and crowd really helped our athletes and they will cherish this great accomplishment for the rest of their lives.”

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Sports Track & Field Women

Women’s track improves

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.

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Sports Track & Field Women

Women’s track impresses

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.”