March 28, 2009
BRYANT UNIVERSITY HOSTS SUCCESSFUL TRACK & FIELD INVITATIONAL SATURDAY AFTERNOON
SMITHFIELD, RI - The Bryant University men's and women's track
& field enjoyed a very successful afternoon hosting the annual
Bryant University Track & Field Invitational Saturday afternoon
at the Bryant Track & Field Complex. The Bulldogs
turned in several fine performances in the non-scoring meet in only
the team's second outdoor meet of the year.
With all Rhode Island track teams competing - including all four Division I schools, morning clouds gave way to sunny skies and favorable conditions for posting excellent times.
Leading the way was Bryant's Thomas O'Connor (Westwood, MA) who placed second in the men's 400 meters in a time of 48.95 seconds. The time was about two seconds off the Bryant school record but earned the sophomore a qualifying time for the New England Championships in May. Teammate Alex Engel (Spencer, MA) was third in 49.21, also a New England qualifying time. Mike DiBella (Upper Saddle River, NJ) was sixth in 50.45.
All three, along with sophomore Andrew Fitzgerald (New Hartford, CT) led the men's 4x400 meter relay to a first-place finish in a solid time of 3 minutes, 20.90 seconds, qualifying the quartet for the New England's. URI's 4x400 meter relay team was second in 3:26.10.
In the middle distance, freshman Drew Clark (Hopkinton, MA) took second in the men's 1500 meters in a time of 4:02.63 while fellow freshman John Mitton (North Reading, MA) placed third in the men's 8800 meters in 2:00.25.
A tough field filled out the men's 5000 meters but Bryant's Mark Kenwood (Cumberland, RI) wasn't fazed as the freshman placed fifth in 15:42.84 and while senior Tom Casey (Cornwall, NY) earned a top-10 finish in 15:56.72. Providence College took the top two spots with Tom Webb finishing first in 15:14.70 and Steve Hankinson was second in 15:17.77.
In the field events, another freshman took center stage for the Bulldogs as Chris Brida (Southampton, MA) placed fifth in the men's long jump with a best mark of 20 feet, 5.75 inches and later advanced to the finals heat of the men's triple jump where he finished second with a mark of 43-4.5. Fitzgerald was Bryant's top finisher in the men's long jump, placing third overall with a best jump of 21-1.50.
On the women's side, Stephanie Kirk (Pompton Lakes, NJ) took third-place in the women's 100 meter hurdles finishing in a time of 17.12. Kirk would also place 13th in the women's 100 meters in 14.01. Sherika Nicholas (East Patchogue, NY) was Bryant's top finisher in the 100m, taking 11th overall in 14.01.
In the 400 meters, Katie Pelletier (Berwick, ME) and senior Justine Douvadjian (Andover, MA) were seventh and eighth respectively. Pelletier, a freshman, finished in a time of 1:02.61 while Douvadjian crossed the line in 1:02.82.
Liana Grieg (York, ME) was 20th, but in the 400 meter hurdles, the junior ran very well in earning a fifth-place finish in 1:11.96.
Freshman Kat Ragone (Bourne, MA) was fifth in the women's 5,000 meters in a time of 19:08.69.
In the field events, Kimberly Warner (Shrewsbury, MA) placed fourth in the women's long jump with a best mark of 15-02.25 while freshman Amy Hutchinson (Exeter, RI) took fourth in the triple jump (33-00.25).
Bryant will return to action next weekend when the Bulldogs travel to the Stonehill Skyhawk Invitational at Easton, MA.
