The men’s and women’s track and field teams hosted the Brown Invitational at the Olney-Margolies Athletic Center on Saturday. Athletes from American International College, Bryant University, University of Hartford, Northeastern University, Providence College, University of Rhode Island and Wesleyan University traveled to Providence to compete in the meet.
Between both Brown teams, the Bears earned 21 top-three finishes. On the women’s team, Madelyn Frey ’22 placed first in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.89 seconds. Emma Gallant ’24 also secured a first place victory after running 200 meters in 26.07 seconds. Brown also took home second and third places in the 3000-meter event, with Lily Harding ’23 and Katie Orchard ’24 finishing with times of 10:35.82 and 10:40.94, respectively.
“It was exciting for me to see the progress I've made throughout the season,” Frey said. “As a senior, I just want to savor these last few indoor meets with my team and have fun.”
With the Ivy League Heptagonal Indoor Track & Field Championships taking place Saturday and Sunday in New York, Frey said her win at the OMAC “was a nice confidence boost going into next weekend.”
“Seeing those who are going to compete this coming weekend refine what they needed to and (seeing) those who aren't going to compete this weekend put it all out there for their last indoor meet was really exciting and really cool,” Frey added. “It (brought) a really good energy and excitement to the team.”
The women’s team also saw success in its field events. In the long jump, Lauren Yeboah-Kodie ’24 took first with a mark of 5.71 meters and Brooklyn Manna ’24 placed second with 5.54 meters.
Yeboah-Kodie also earned gold in the triple jump with a distance of 11.68 meters, where she was joined by Daryn Davis ’24 (11.68m) in second place and Lauren Stern ’22 (11.54m) in third.
Kendra Ezeama ’24 (14.02m) won first place in the shot put, and Sophia Gallucci ’25 (17.28m) and Jae Crawford ’22 (16.05m) captured first and third places respectively in the weight throw.
The men’s jumpers and throwers also had a strong showing, highlighted by a victory by Kegan Schroeter ’22. Schroeter placed first in the weight throw with a mark of 20.22 meters, the second best in Brown history after Owen Russell ’19. Schroeter previously held this record and beat his personal record by one centimeter.
Jonathan Pelusi ’22 (4.85m) and Altan Mitchell ’23 (14.77m) both finished first in their competitions, pole vault and triple jump, respectively. The Bears took gold and bronze in the shot put after Michael Neary ’22 put a mark of 16.63 meters and Tyler Gurth ’25 threw for 14.67 meters.
“It was pretty exhilarating as a senior to defend the home turf one last time,” Schroeter said. “Hopefully I can take (Russell’s) spot next week, but if not, there’s no one else I’d rather be second to.”
Brown also earned two podium spots in the 1000-meter event, with Henry Wood ’25 (2:32.40) placing first and Sam Colton ’25 (2:33.43) placing third. Jared Yabu ’22 ran the mile with a time of 4:22.28 to win first place, while Marcus Gillespie ’24 finished the hurdles in 8.40 seconds to earn gold.
In addition to the success the Bears had Saturday, interim Head Coach Ken Hunt commended the spirit of the team, which has been a focus for him all season.
“We've been out a year and a half,” Hunt said. “I told the team let's just go back to enjoying the sport that we love.”
Though Schroeter hopes to “put (him) or (his) teammates in a good spot to go to NCAA (Championships),” he also said a personal goal for the rest of the season was “uplifting team culture.”
Brown will look to have another strong showing this weekend at the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships.
