The Bears' track and field teams went three different ways this past weekend, competing at meets across the country in order to seek out the best competition. At the Larry Ellis Memorial Invitational, which kicked off on Friday night at Princeton, two members of the team ran times fast enough to qualify for the NCAA Regionals, while two others qualified for the Eastern College Athletic Conference competition. The team saw less success at its subsequent meets, the UConn Invitational and the John McDonnell Invitational in Arkansas, although Matthew Jasmin '09 pulled out another ECAC qualifying time of 14.77 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles.
The Bears opened the weekend with a bang on a stellar performance from Ozzie Myers '08, who delivered a time of 8:59 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, the second-fastest time ever for Brown. Smita Gupta '08 almost matched the feat with her time of 4:26 in the 1,500-meter race, the fourth-fastest time in the school's history. Both runners qualified for the NCAA Regionals on the strength of these personal bests.
Jenna Ridgway '10 just missed the cut for Regionals but did qualify for the ECACs with her time of 4:28 in the 1,500-meter race. Kesley Ramsey '11 will join Ridgway in the event at ECACs, qualifying with a time of 4:31.
"I was ecstatic with the trip to Princeton and how well it went," Head Coach Craig Lake wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. "The goal is to have as many people qualify for the NCAA as possible."
The Bears faced some stiff competition at the UConn Invitational from UConn, Rhode Island, Boston University, Providence College and Quinnipiac. The standouts of the meet were Duriel Hardy '10, who ran a time of 3:55.92 in the 1,500-meter race to earn second place, and John Haenle '11 who delivered an impressive time of 9:45.53 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, also good for second. Brian Schilder '11, Joseph Mastrangelo '09 and Zach Jaffa '08 had fourth-place finishes in the 1,500-meter race, the 200-meter dash and the pole vault, respectively.
The women's track events saw solid performances from all, particularly in the distance events, where three athletes finished in the top 10 in the 1,500-meter race and two placed among the top 15 in the other sprint events.
The best performances of the day at UConn came from Herald Staff Writer Lauren Pischel '11, who placed second in the 1,500-meter race with a time of 4:43.39, and Brooke Staton '11, who also finished second with a leap of 17 feet, 8.25 inches in the long jump.
"I was happy with my race. It was good, but as always, there is room to improve," Pischel said. "You want to be able to step off the track and say I gave that race everything I had. In my race, I didn't quite reach that point, but I am getting there."
The final meet of the weekend took place in Arkansas at the John McDonnell Invitational. Once again, the athletes performed with consistency. Nicole Burns '09 finished fourth in the 400-meter dash in 54.79 seconds and Akilah King '08 pulled out another commendable performance, placing third in the triple jump with a jump of 40 feet, 1.25 inches. Jasmin was the most impressive on the day, finishing the 100-meter hurdles with a qualifying time good enough to send him to ECACs.
"Personally traveling down to Arkansas and having the opportunity to compete with other athletes at such a high level was extremely helpful in my preparation for our Heptagonal Championship and meets beyond," Jasmin said. "I am very happy with my performance at this meet, but I do still feel like I have much further to go before I attain the goals that I have set out for myself. In terms of being ready for our Heptagonal Championship meet, I think that if we continue to improve as we have, especially on the men's side, that we are going (to) turn some heads and put out some great performances."
Despite the loss of one of their star sprinters, Thelma Breezeatl '10, because of injury, the Bears are looking to up the ante in the coming weeks prior to Heps, as many other teams in the league have improved outdoors.
"This upcoming weekend is the Penn Relays, which offers terrific competition," Lake wrote. "We will have a number of people trying to hit the standard there." Lake named Lindsay Kahn '09, Nick Sarro '08, Ryan Graddy '08, Ari Zamir '08 and Ridgway as potential qualifiers.
The Penn meet, Lake wrote, "brings a lot of exposure and is attended by 75,000 - so it is a terrific experience."
The Penn relays will take place all weekend, beginning Thursday in Philadelphia.
