Track & Field Records Top Finishes at Pair of Meets

Friday, April 23

Storrs, CT

10:00 AM

Brown University

UConn Northeast Invitational

Photo by: David Silverman Photography

Track & Field Records Top Finishes at Pair of Meets

4/24/2021 8:26:00 PM | Men's Track & Field, Women's Track & Field

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Brown men's and women's track & field teams competed at the UConn Northeast Invitational and at Bryant over the weekend. Brown was joined by UConn, Northeastern, Rhode Island and Southern Connecticut State University at the Northeast Invitational while American International joined the Bears and Bryant in the second meet.

"I couldn't be more proud of what our athletes accomplished this weekend," said head coach Tim Springfield. "It's been a challenging year on all fronts, and for many athletes, it was the first time competing in their primary events in 14 months. For a handful of athletes, it has been two years. And yet we came away with seven all-time top ten performances in Brown history. We came away with 28 all-time personal bests from the 38 athletes competing. We had seniors making the most of the opportunity and we also had first-years step up big in their first collegiate meet. I've been impressed all year with the energy and passion our athletes maintained in challenging circumstances, and our results today bear that out."

UConn Northeast Invitational
On Friday, all six men who competed broke, equaled or established personal best in the meet. The first event saw junior Alex Wilson (Louisville, Ky.), senior Bretram Rogers (Grand Prairie, Texas), senior Kevin Boyce (Columbus, Ohio) and sophomore Ethan Gardner (Alpharetta, Ga.) combine for a time of 42.71 in the 4x100 relay for third. Rogers later followed with a second-place finish in the 110 hurdles with a time of 14.58. Wilson was the top Bear finisher in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.84, good for sixth in his heat and seventh overall, while Gardner had a big breakthrough in the event and finished ninth overall with a 10.93. Boyce later led Brown in the 200 with a 22.58 for fourth in his section.

On Saturday for the women, a team of junior Arielle Desir (Ridge, N.Y.), senior Gracie Whelan (Charlotte, N.C.), junior Sydney Scott (Charlotte, N.C.) and junior Maddie Frey (Waukesha, Wis.) put together a time of 47.25 in the 4x100 relay, good for second place. Sophomore Lily Dumas (Holden, Mass.) won her heat of the 100 hurdles with a time of 14.95, which was fourth overall. Desir led the Bears in the 100 with a fourth-place finish in 12.32. Brown then went 2-3 in the 200 with Whelan claiming second in 24.65 and Frey taking third (24.95).

In field events, Brown claimed the top three spots in the triple jump with senior Felicia Renelus (Valley Stream, N.Y.) winning the event with a distance of 40-0.25, which ranks 10th all-time at Brown, while freshman Chiamaka Odenigbo (New Rochelle, N.Y.) (12.01m) and junior Lauren Stern (Mahwah, N.J.) (11.94m) followed. Odenigbo's jump of 12.01m was her first time going over the 12-meter mark in her career. The long jump saw both Stern and freshman Brooklyn Manna (Woburn, Mass.) record top-10 results, with Stern recording a 19-9 for sixth all-time while Manna logged a distance of 19-6 for ninth best all-time.

At Bryant vs. American International
Throws highlighted the meet with three results landing on Brown's top-10 performances list. Shira Stoller (Sharon, Mass.) won the javelin with a distance of 147-02, good for fifth all-time, while junior Erin McMeniman (Dracut, Mass.) took second with a throw of 139-08, which was sixth best. Sophomore Kevin Fairchild (Phoenix, Ariz.) recorded Brown's second victory in the javelin with his throw of 218-00. The Bears also posted wins in the discus, receiving victories from junior Kegan Schroeter (Narragansett, R.I.) (157-05) and junior Jae Crawford (Orlando, Fla.) (131-07). Schroeter additionally won the hammer throw (206-04), which ranks third all-time, while Crawford placed second (152-05) in the women's round, which comes in as the eighth best mark all-time. Both of Schroeter's throws in the hammer and discus were also career bests. The shot-put saw Michael Neary (Darien, Conn.) register a win with a throw of 48-03.25.

For running events, senior Ally Hajda (Atlantic Beach, Fla.) won the 3000 with a time of 9:59.05 while junior Isabela Bartczak (Orlando, Fla.) followed in second place (10:08.29). The men also went 1-2 in the 3000 with sophomore Nate Price (Edinboro, Pa.) claiming the top spot in 8:37.58 and senior Dominic Morganti (Syracuse, N.Y.) following in 8:55.23. The Bears had a strong showing in the 1500 with junior Emily Kompelien (Edina, Minn.) winning the event in 4:36.03 and seniors Samantha Valentine (Middleton, Wis.) (4:38.94) and Emily Skahill (Morgan Hill, Calif.) (4:40.20) finishing third and fourth, respectively. Senior David Scherrer (Virginia Beach, Va.) was the top finisher for the men in the event, crossing the line in fifth (3:53.34). Junior Derek Davey (Elkhorn, Wis.) later put up a time of 50.34 in the 400 for third.

In jumps, sophomore Altan Mitchell (Ankara, Turkey) took the long jump with a distance of 23-04.75, a personal best, while junior Jono Pelusi (Pittsburgh, Pa.) claimed third (21-00.00). Pelusi also recorded personal bests in the 200 (23.04) and javelin (145-10) on the day.

Mitchell won his second event of the day, claiming the triple jump with a mark of 49-03.50, again a personal best, and sophomore Sidarth Raman (Fremont, Calif.) placed third (46-00.00). Brown went 1-2 in the high jump with Raman recording the victory with a height of 6-04.75 while junior Numan Maloney (Lincolndale, N.Y.) took second (6-02.75).

"It was a very strong day for Brown track & field," said associate head coach Ken Hunt. "The last competitive jumps the student-athletes took were in February of 2020. Our student-athletes were able to put that fact on the back burner today. They went out there and competed against some competition that has been able to develop a competitive rhythm since January. The performances achieved today should be competitive regionally. Hopefully some good news will allow for this continued forward trajectory."