Two school records fall as Bulldogs shine at Ocean State Invitational

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University track and field program enjoyed a historic weekend at the Ocean State Invitational on Friday and Saturday in Providence.

Over the course of two day, the Bulldogs received historic performances from several athletes and saw two school records fall.

Junior Deion Raper (Brockton, Mass.) broke the school record in the 110m hurdles with a time of 15.08 seconds in the prelims. The record had been held by Anthony Monteiro (15.09) since 2012. Raper's time was over a tenth of a second faster than his previous personal best, and he went on to finish 4th in the event.

Sophomore Alexandra Watts (Clinton, Conn.) set a new program record in the pole vault, clearing a height of 3.35m to finish fourth in the event. The record had been held by Abigail Petersen (3.31m) since 2008. Watts now holds the indoor and outdoor pole vault record.

In addition to those two record-setting performances, the Bulldogs also received sparkling performances from several other athletes.

Senior Emily McNeil (Shelton, Conn.) finished second in the 3k, posting a personal-best time of 10:09.13. The time is 20 seconds faster than her previous personal best.

Freshmen Emily Cluck (Johnson City, N.Y.) and Jacklyn Sullivan (Plymouth, Mass.) both enjoyed outstanding performances. Cluck finished third in the 200, posting the second-fastest time in school history at 25.31 seconds. The school record in the event is held by Natasha Stevenson (25.05, 2006). Sullivan also posted the second-fastest time in school history, finishing ninth in the 800 with a time of 2:15.60. It is the fastest 800 run by a female athlete in 30 years as Diane Tedford set the record in 1987 (2:14.94).

Sophomore Melissa Hurwitz (Newton, Mass.) became just the second female in school history to run the 100m hurdles in under 16 seconds, posting a time of 15.98 seconds. The only other runner to complete that feat was Jasmine Bryant in 2012.

Senior Jonee Harrison (Dorchester, Mass.) continued her outstanding final season by becoming the first female thrower in DI program history to throw the shot over 11m. Her throw of 11.08m is the third-best in program history and it's the best mark since 2007.

Other top performers included Alec Binette (Glastonbury, Conn.), Milan Duka (Belgrade, Serbia), Shirley Carrington (Dorchester, Mass.), MiaLynne Park (Jewett City, Conn.) and Melissa Lodge (Hopkinton, Mass.). Binette was 10th in the 400, Duka finished ninth in the 800, Carrington set a PR in the 100, Park finished eighth in the 400 and Lodge set a PR in the 5k.

The Bulldogs are back in action on Saturday, Apr. 22 when they travel to Lowell, Mass., for the UMass Lowell Invitational.