Cambridge, MA ? The University of Hartford men's and women's track and field team continued their indoor season, competing at the Harvard Invitational on Saturday afternoon. More than 950 athletes competed in the open event, which saw several top performances and new school records set by the Hawks.
Junior Ariana Bass highlighted the Harvard Invitational for the Hartford women with a first place finish in the 500-meter dash. Bass posted a time of 1:18.88, which qualifies her for the New England Championship Meet held at the end of the indoor season in Boston beginning on February 27. Additionally, she had the fastest split of the day on the 4x400-meter team, which finished second overall.
Joining Bass with top-10 finishes in the track events were three Hartford women. Senior Elizabeth Foster and junior Kaycee Martinez
saw the next best finishes on the track for the Hawks. Foster finished sixth in the 5000-meter run with a time of 18:33.53, while Martinez posted a time of 59.96 in the 400-meter run, earning the sixth-place spot. Although just falling shy of a top-10 finish in the 800-meter run, sophomore Erika Schramm's performance in the event garnered a new indoor school record (2:24.06) which was previously set by Stefanie Lombardi last season.
Rounding out the top-finishers for the Hawks in the track event was rookie Kristalena Lamore. Lamore posted a seventh place finish in the 200-meter dash, clocking in with a time of 26.60. Additionally, Lamore was a stand out in the field events for Hartford. Lamore saw a fifth place finish in the long jump with a distance of 5.07 meters, while earning an eighth place finish in the triple jump (10.38). Joining Lamore with a top-10 finish in the long jump was teammate Erica Prino, who recorded a distance of 4.91 meters in the event. Sophomore Carolyn Grime also had a strong showing in the field events for Hartford, placing fifth in the weight throw with a distance of 10.52 meters.
Highlighting the Hartford men was senior Anthony Oluwanifise. Oluwanifise led the field events with one of three top finishes, posting a third place finish in the triple jump with a distance of 13.76 meters. Additionally, his leap of 6.71 meters in the long jump was good for a fifth place finish, as well as a trip to the New England Championship Meet at the end of the indoor season.
Oluwanifise was joined in the top-10 in the triple jump by newcomer Nigel Nimoh. Nimoh's jump of 13.21 meters earned a fifth place finish in the event. Senior Ryan Trupin also highlighted the top-performers in the field events, finishing sixth in the high jump with a height of 1.90 meters.
Sophomore Warren Lane was the only Hawk to finish in the top-10 in the track events. Lane earned a third place finish in the 500-meter run, posting a time of 1:06.95 in the event. Teammates Jonas Hampton and Matthew Le finished just shy of the top-10 with 11th place finishes in the 5000-meter run and the 800-meter run, respectively. Hampton's time of 15:57.60 set a new indoor school record in the 5k, breaking the previous record by 10 seconds.
Both the men's and women's track and field teams will return to action after the New Year at the Reebok Indoor Games in Boston at the Reggie Lewis Center on January 30.
