Track and Field
In their season-opening meet, the men’s and women’s track and field teams hosted the 31st Alden Invitational Saturday. The meet was attended by Bryant, Univeristy of Rhode Island, UMass Lowell and Assumption. The inaugural competition of the 2016-2017 season was characterized by numerous record-breaking performances from both teams — a good sign for the Bears. Director of Track and Field and Cross Country, Tim Springfield “couldn’t be more pleased” with Saturday’s showing, according to a Brown Athletics press release.
The women were dominant on the field. Shanelle DeJournett ’17 took first place in the high jump. DeJournett’s clearance tied the highest mark in program history. The senior now shares the record with Lindsay Taylor ’01, who topped the program’s leaderboard first in 1997. The Offiaeli sisters — Maxine Offiaeli ’18 and Kendra Offiaeli ’20 — impressed at the invitational’s throwing events. Maxine Offiaeli notched the third-best showing in the hammer throw in program history with her 59-11.25 toss. The performance was also good enough for first place amongst the field of 18 throwers. In her first competitive meet, Kendra Offiaeli claimed another first-place finish for the Bears in the shot put. The younger Offiaeli threw for a distance of 45-11.25 — the eighth-longest in Brown’s women’s track and field’s record books. The Bears garnered two more first-place finishes and entries into the record books in field events with jumps from Rachel McMahon ’19 and Zion Lewis ’20. McMahon topped the field of long jumpers with her jump of 18-06.50, and Lewis dominated triple jump with a leap of 38-10.25.
The men’s team also found some marked success on the field. Taylor Alarcon ’17 led the way for the Bears. The senior took home first place for the Bears in two jumping events. Alarcon jumped to a mark of 7.02 meters in the long jump and a distance of 14.89 meters in the triple jump. Additionally, Owen Russell ’19 claimed first place in the weight toss with a 65-11.00 throw. The throw put Russell in the record books as the second-best throw in program history.
While the meet featured commanding performances on the field, both the women’s and men’s teams found some success on the track. On the men’s side, Brian Pfaff ’18 took first place in the 60-meter race as he crossed the finish line at 6:92 — the eighth-best all-time finish for the race. The Bears also won the men’s 1,000-meter and 3,000 meter races. The women took first place in the 1,000-meter race, the mile and the 3,000-meter.
Next up, Bruno will travel to Boston and participate in the Northeastern Jay Carisella Dec. 10 for its last competition of 2016.
Swimming and Diving
The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams hosted the three-day Bruno Invitational this weekend. Dartmouth, Princeton, Rider and Rutgers were all in attendance at the Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center.
Both men’s and women’s teams for Brown took the lead after the first day of competition. The women’s team used first-place finishes in several events to surpass the points of its competitors. One of the Bears’ relay teams won the 200m freestyle and Tatiana Prendella ’19 won the 500m freestyle Friday night. Saturday, Bruno took first in the 200 medley relay with a 1:40.62 finish.
The men set the tone for the competition Friday night, opening the tournament with a victory in the 200 freestyle relay. The 1:20.41 finish bodes well for the Bears as it was about a second faster than the team’s finish at the 2016 Ivy Championships. The Bears continued to stretch their lead Saturday as relay teams claimed first and second place in the 200m medley relay.
Bruno will return to competition in the new year when it takes on Penn and Harvard Jan. 13 and 14.
