The track and field team travelled to Atlanta, Ga., this past weekend to kick off the outdoor season. They participated in the two-day Emory Classic, hosted by Emory University, where the College turned in numerous post-season qualifying marks.
The men won the invitational Emory Asics Classic with 167 points while the women claimed third with 95 points.
"It's always nice to compete in new places and against new competition," sophomore field team member Martin Brown said. "Plus the weather was warmer than competing up here, so overall, it was a great experience."
The first day of the competition brought victory in the women's field events. The Lions took three of five top places in the shot put. Freshman Sarah Wehrhan won the event with a mark of 11.10 meters.
Freshman Cristina D'Amato was fourth with a throw of 10.68 meters, while sophomore Ashley Krauss finished fifth with a toss of 10.58 meters.
Krauss and Wehrhan also competed in the hammer throw. Krauss placed second (40.63 meters) and Wehrhan finished right behind her to capture third (38.81 meters).
In the javelin, sophomore Danielle Kedzerieski was third with a throw of 26.53 meters. Junior Kristen Tricocci cleared a height of 1.56 meters in the high jump to become the third-place finisher. Tricocci also competed in the long jump, where she tied for second place with a jump of 5.28 meters.
Junior Nicole Ullmeyer rounded out the first day of competition in the 10,000-meter run, the longest distance event of the meet. She placed fourth overall (41:40.51).
Contributing to the third-place overall standing, junior Stephanie Herrick met a NCAA provision time in the 800 meters. Clocking in at 2:13.54, Herrick placed second in the race. Sophomore teammate Jianna Spadaccini was fourth in the event, meeting an East Coast Athletic Conference (ECAC) time in 2:17.56.
Senior Jessica Bonelli brought home an individual gold medal in the 400 meters, running a time of 58.22 seconds. Also in the 400 meters, freshman Meryl Wimberly was second in 58.27 seconds. Both were ECAC-qualifying times.
Senior Lauren Pfeiffer finished third in the pole vault, clearing the bar at 3.07 meters, while junior Megan Donovan had a personal-best run in the 1,500 meters.
The women's relay teams both took first-place spots. The 4x100-meter relay team earned an ECAC time and top honors with a combined time of 49.32 seconds. Sophomore Priscilla Senyah, sophomore Meghan Miller, Tricocci and Bonelli ran in the event.
Miller also had a second-place victory in the 400 hurdles (1:08.28) and a fourth-place finish in the 100 hurdles (15.99). Senyah captured second place in the 100-meter hurdles in an ECAC-standard time of 15.85 seconds. Junior Kristen Gerbehy also competed in the event and finished fifth for the Lions.
Freshman Rochelle Prevard, Spadaccini, Bonelli and Wimberly added another ECAC- worthy time event in the 4x400-meter relay (3:56.37).
For the first-place-finishing men, senior Brian Donatelli was fourth in the hammer throw (43.18 meters), while sophomore Martin Brown was eighth (38.23 meters). Senior Galen Johnson took fifth in the steeplechase, finishing in a time of 9:48.90.
"It was a great start to the season," Brown said. "Everyone just wanted to get some good marks and times to build upon for the rest of the Spring season, and we accomplished this goal."
In the long-jump event, senior Andy Lim leaped 6.22 meters (eighth place) to add another top finish to the College's total.
Highlights from day two of the meet began with Donatelli's victory in the shot put with a toss of 14.21 meters. In the discus, he was second with a distance of 38.90 meters.
Freshmen Tim Blashford and Kyle Gilroy met ECAC standards with second-place finishes in both the pole vault and high hurdles, respectively. Blashford cleared 4.25 meters in the vault, and Gilroy finished his event with a time of 15.46.
Gilroy also added a fourth-place finish and an ECAC time in the 400 intermediate hurdles (55.19). In the 400-meter dash sophomore DeShard Stevens took fifth, clocking a time of 51.79 seconds.
Junior Pasquale DiGioacchino added a fifth-place finish in the 800 meters (1:57.58), while freshman Oluwaseye Akele jumped his way to a fourth-place finish in the triple jump with a distance of 12.52 meters.
Sealing their first-place victory, the men's 4x100-meter relay team ranked fifth and met an ECAC standard. The quartet comprised senior Steve Murray, freshman Jule Brooks, Gilroy and Stevens, who ran a combined time of 43.57.
With successful season openers under their belts, the teams will head to Widener University this weekend to face their next opponents.
