Women Take Second and Men Garner Fourth in Track Spring Opener

In the Hawks’ opening meet of the 2011 outdoor campaign, five women took home individual victories in their events and three men garnered first place finishes to lead the University of Hartford track and field squads to respective second and fourth place finishes at the Gerry Gravel Classic on March 26. The event was hosted by Westfield State University.

Priscilla Appiagyei led the way for the Hartford women on the track when she scored the squad’s first top finish. The sophomore ran a 1:00.31 in the 400, earning 10 points for the Hawks. Marisa Poleto, a senior, fed off of her teammate's success when she ran the 800-meter in 2:24.95, bettering the competition by more than one second for first in the event.

Also finding success on the track was rookie Megan Barry, who outran the competition by almost three seconds to win the 5,000-meter run in 18:45.49. Fellow distance runners Catherine Carey and Stephanie Curcio also racked up points in the event as Carey placed fifth (19:44.13) and Curcio clocked-in at 20:04.12, good for seventh.

In her first outdoor meet as a collegian, Alisha Beeman cleared 1.57-meters in the high jump, tying for top honors. She went on to combine for 9.64-meters in the triple jump to bring home four points for the Hawks while scoring second in the javelin, launching a school record-breaking mark of 37.40-meters. Nicolle Adams, who took fifth in the 100-meter hurdles finishing in 17.31, scored the Hawks’ fifth individual victory when she leapt for 4.98-meters in the long jump. The senior’s mark was nine centimeters, and almost four inches, better than her competition. Alexandria Thatcher, a rookie, scored seventh in the event (4.77-meters).

In the hurdles, sophomore Natalie Bonham fell short of first place with her time of 1:06.91 in the 400.

The relay teams racked up points for the Hartford women as the 4x100 squad (Nicole McClintock, Rebecca Cheatham, Keshia Redhead, Adams) placed third combining for a time of 50.89. In the 4x4, Appiagyei, Grace Lawal, McClintock and Poleto fell less than half a second short of outracing Springfield for first place with their time of 4:11.92.

Sophomore Ackeme Brown got the Hawks off to a hot start when he raced to an 11.35 in the 100, scoring the men’s first victory on the afternoon. Junior Anderson Emerole also found success in the sprints when he finished second in the 400-meter run, nearly missing out on first place with his time of 49.77. Warren Lane, a senior, claimed fourth in the event when he ran a lap of 50.07.

Jonas Hampton and Andrew Chalmers, a pair of distance runners, scored two gold medals with their times in the 5,000-meter run and the 3,000-meter steeplechase, respectively. Hampton, a senior, squeezed by Springfield’s Ryan O’Connell by one-tenth at 15:14.46 to secure first coupled with a new school record while Chalmers’ time of 9:59.17 was more than 19 seconds better than the second-place opponent.

In the hurdles, freshman Erik Quitzau garnered top-eight honors in both events, taking sixth in the 110-meters (16.94) and eighth in the 400-meters (1:00.68). Fellow hurdler Cody Adamson, a senior, placed in front of Quitzau in the 110-meters, ranking fifth with his time of 16.91.

Kyle Cholewa, a rookie, got things started for the Hawks with a top finish in the discus when he hurled for a new school record of 42.61-meters (139-09). Classmate Rashawn Providence also found success in the field events when he combined for a distance of 12.86-meters to take fourth place in the triple jump.

The men’s 4x100-meter relay team (A. Brown, Lane, Christopher Carr, Emerole) landed second place when they combined for a time of 43.07, while the 4x4 team (Robert Giuliani, Christopher Rodriguez, Kevin Brandon and Hampton) ranked seventh, clocking in at 3:42.06.