Colgate’s track and field team competed in two invitationals this weekend. One of them was the Moravian College Greyhound Invitational Meet on Saturday in Bethlehem, PA. Sophomore Vicky Martinez had a standout performance, winning the 1,500-meter race to lead the team. It was her first time participating in this race and she placed first out of 19 runners. Junior Skyler Berardi also had a successful meet, setting a personal record in the 1,500-meter race, making it her third consecutive invitational at which she set a personal record (PR). Berardi came in second in the race with a time of 4:51.18 just behind Martinez who had a time of 4:48.66. Berardi beat her PR by more than eight seconds.

There were several other strong Colgate  performers at the meet. Senior Breanne Wilson-Bennett placed fifth in the javelin with a throw of 38.02 meters. This earned her a personal record in her second invite. First-year Lexi Walsh finished sixth in her first 5,000-meter race with an impressive time of 19:24.20. Senior captain Maggie Cusick reached 5.24 meters on her long jump to get seventh place and placed ninth in the triple jump at 10.07 meters.

“Colgate had some great results this weekend at Moravian, especially on the girl’s side. A lot of us are coming off injuries, so to see so many top finishes was impressive. Vicky Martinez and Skyler Berardi taking first and second in the 1,500 was one of the most exciting races of the day. Overall I think everyone was happy with how the meet turned out and racing in such nice weather was a definite bonus,” first-year Marie Nevils said.

Other athletes on the track and field team traveled to the Larry Ellis Invitation at Princeton University this weekend. Senior Watson Hanson stood out and qualified for the IC4A meet in May. Hanson also set his personal record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, getting a time of 9:21.55. Senior Tina Bowers had a phenomenal day and broke her program record for the second consecutive week. Bowers was able to beat her record by 12 seconds with a time of 11:05.18. 

Other standouts were junior Jonathan Abbott and senior captain Colin Loughlin; they each broke personal records. Abbot set a personal record in the 1,500-meter race, getting a time of 3:56.66, earning sixth place. Loughlin got a time of 1:54.53, a personal record, to finish eighth in the 800-meter race. For the day, the Raiders were able to tally four top-10 finishers.

“Overall, I think the meet went okay, but not as well as we planned. In my event, the 4x100m Relay, we ran slower than we did last week. Currently our relay’s goal is to qualify for IC4As which is three weeks from now. However, we’re looking to put in some work next week at Cornell and the following week at Lafayette for Patriot League Championships,” first-year Kobi Grant said. 

Next weekend, the Raiders will travel to Ithaca, NY to compete in the Big Red Invite, which will be hosted by Cornell University on Sunday, April 29. This is the team’s final regular season before the Patriot League Championships, which are set to begin the following week on Friday, May 4.

Contact Kate Kelly at [email protected].