Bryant hosts annual Black and Gold Invitational

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Friday, March 29 marks day one of the Bryant University outdoor track and field team's annual Black and Gold Invitational. The Bulldogs will host 13 teams this year as the team gets ready to dive into the outdoor season.

The weekend marks the second outdoor meet of the season as Bryant took a spring break trip down to Charleston, S.C. to open the outdoor season at the CSU Spring Break Invitational. Both the men and the women had a solid debut, as several Bulldogs climbed to personal-bests.

The Bulldogs have endured a solid cross-country and indoor season earlier this year, as seven athletes have earned All-NEC honors throughout the two seasons. Three of the seven athletes earned All-Rookie laurels including Freshman Julia Ayres (Collegeville, Pa.) who earned rookie honors during both the cross-country and indoor seasons. For indoors, Ayres was the top rookie in the Northeast Conference in both the 3,000 and the 5,000-meter runs.

Bryant's young squad has proven to be a strength for the Black and Gold on the men's side as well, as freshman Jason Dolan (Westford, Mass.) is the only other Bulldog to earn All-NEC laurels during both seasons before entering the outdoor season. Dolan has had a standout rookie year finishing fifth in his first-ever NEC Indoor Championship in both the 800-meter and the mile run. Among the Northeast Conference, Dolan finished top among all freshmen in the mile, posting a time of 4:17.33 at the Championship meet. Freshmen Andrew Canale (Lincroft, N.J.) was alongside Dolan on the All-Rookie Team during the indoor season, as the top freshmen in the conference in the 500-meter, with a time of 1:06.41, which was good for a sixth-place overall finish. The duo of Canale and Dolan were also part of the men's distance medley relay team that broke the program record at the IC4A Championship. Senior Brian Salit (Seekonk, Mass.) and sophomore Jordan Dagrin (North Kingstown, R.I.) ran alongside the two rookies, with a record-breaking time of 10:01.15.   

Salit is ready to compete in his final Black and Gold Invitational of his career after enduring a solid indoor season. Every year at the Black and Gold Invitational, Salit has competed in the 800-meter, but this year he is set to compete in the 1,500-meter alongside William Bittrich (Duxbury, Msas.), Christopher Wrenn (Norton, Mass.), Ian Carpenter (Bethany, Conn.), Joseph Siuta (Unionville, Conn.), Seth Christmas (Ellington, Conn.), Dolan and Dagrin. Senior Alec Binette (Glastonbury, Conn.) is also set to compete in his final B&G Invitational in the 400-meter. Binette has continued to break PR's this year in the 60, 400, 500, and most recently, the 200-meter during the CSU Spring Break Invitational. The Connecticut native finished 12^th last season at the Invitational with a time of 51.10 in the 400-meter.

For field events, sophomore Chris Fasano (Lake Grove, N.Y.) will be competing again in the shot put event after breaking the meet record last season, throwing 15.83 meters. In javelin, Nick Alessandro (Pomfret Center, Conn.) will also be returning for his second season after finishing third at Charleston Southern over spring break.  

Circling back to the women's side of things, Camryn Wesoloskie (Manchester, Conn.) and Emily Cluck (Johnson City, N.Y.) are back as top performers in each of their respective events. Cluck is coming off a first place finish at the NEC Indoor Championship in the 400-meter. Her gold medal performance earned her All-Conference First Team honors after posting a time of 56.54. She will compete again in the 400-meter after placing second at last season's Black and Gold invitational. Wesoloskie helped the Bulldogs score in the triple jump last season with a seventh-place finish leaping 9.77 meters.   

Sophomore Courtney Kelleher (Wrentham, Mass.) also returns as Bryant's top shot putter. She finished fifth last season at B&G and just recently broke her personal best over spring break throwing 12.49 meters to kick off the outdoor season.

Assumption, Bentley, Brown, Fairfield, Holy Cross, Merrimack, Rhode Island College, Nichols, Siena, UMass Amherst, URI, and WPI will be among the thirteen schools competing this year in Smithfield. The Invitiational kicks off on Friday at 2 p.m. with Hammer Throw as the lone event of the day. On Saturday, events will start at 10:15 following a senior recognition.