Bulldogs shine in Black and Gold Invitational on Sunday

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University track and field program shined in its only home meet of the season on Sunday as it tied a school record and broke a school record at the Black and Gold Invitational.

The women's 4x800 relay team highlighted the day, finishing first with a school record time of 9:37.27. Sarah Lapham (Greenwich, N.Y.), Olivia Weiss (Newton, N.J.), Jacklyn Sullivan (Plymouth, Mass.) and Melissa Lodge (Hopkinton, Mass.) teamed up to break the record of 9:39.98 that had stood since the 2012 season.

Freshman Emily Cluck (Johnson City, N.Y.) also tied the school record in the 100, finishing third with a time of 12.27. The record was set last season by Nicole Dempsey.

Other first-place performances included Lodge in the 1500 (4:39.96) and both the men's 4x400 and 4x800 relay teams. The quartet of Alec Binette (Glastonbury, Conn.), Brian Murray (Westford, Mass.), Justin Patterson (Marshfield, Mass.) and Deion Raper (Brockton, Mass.) won the 4x400 with a time of 3:22.21, while Milan Duka (Belgrade, Serbia), Richard Landry (Holyoke, Mass.), Ryan Poholek (Attleboro, Mass.) and Christopher Wrenn (Norton, Mass.) won the 4x800 with a time of 8:05.72.

On the female side, MiaLynne Park (Jewett City, Conn.) finished third in the 200m with a time of 25.87.

Alexandra Watts (Clinton, Conn.) posted a height of 3.10m in the pole vault, finishing fifth.

Melissa Hurwitz (Newton, Mass.) finished third in the long jump with a distance of 4.90m.

Jonee Harrison (Dorchester, Mass.) finished second in the hammer (48.27m) and fourth in the shot put (10.90m). Both throws are just off her personal bests.

Kelsey Charette (Somers, Conn.) finished fourth in the javelin with a toss of 35.93m.

On the men's side, Evan Smith (Chester, Conn.) finished third in the 100m with a time of 11.22.

Raper and Patterson both excelled in their individual events as Raper finished fifth in the 200m and Patterson finished fifth in the 400m.

Landry and Duka both finished in the top five of the 800, placing second and fifth, respectively. Landry posted a time of 1:54.15, the third fastest in program history.

Matt McGovern (Long Beach, N.Y.) finished fifth in the 1500m.

The Bulldogs return to the track next on April 14 when they compete in the PC/Brown Invitational in Providence.