Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU track & field team concluded its first full competition at the newly refurbished P3R Track & Field Complex Saturday on Neville Island at the RMU Island Sports, finishing first out of six teams in the Benson/Hodge Memorial Invitational with 162.50 points. The Colonials knocked off Duquesne (155) and Seton Hill (121) to earn the team championship.
SPEED SPEED SPEED
An RMU student-athlete earned individual championships Saturday in the 100-meter dash, 200-meter and the 400-meter, while the 4x100-meter relay improved on its school record performance from three weeks ago. In the 100-meter dash, freshman
Maddie Raymond earned gold with a time of 12.42 seconds. Fellow rookie
Hannah McDanel notched a personal best in the 200-meter, clocking in at 25.22 to win the individual title and edge out senior
Brooke Oldfin, who claimed silver at 25.69. In the 400-meter, it was junior
Elicia Moore who took home the championship with a time of 56.91, also a personal best. The time moved her into sixth on the Horizon League leaderboard in the event.
RECORD BREAKER
At the Mountaineer Classic at the beginning of the month, the RMU
4x100-meter relay broke a school record that had stood for almost 25 years. A total of 21 days later, the Colonials bettered that time. Senior
Tara Gologram ran the opening leg of the relay squad that posted a time of 47.02 seconds to update its standard in the record book. She was followed by Moore, McDanel and Raymond, and the time is just off the facility record of 46.50 that was established by Long Island at the 2014 Northeast Conference (NEC) Championships. McDanel, Moore and Oldfin, meanwhile, were joined by sophomore
Rio Strosnider in helping the Colonials finish third in the 4x400-meter relay at 4:04.63.
ROUNDABOUT
Fifth-year
Yessie Valencia, who
earned gold Friday in the hammer throw, continued her stellar final act as a member of the track & field program with the Colonials by finishing first Saturday in the discus. She launched a toss of 44.79 meters (146'11") to finish just ahead of her teammate,
Estelle Katende, who finished second at 44.35 meters (145'6"). Senior
Taylor Mears also scored in the event for the Colonials with a heave of 35.81 meters (117'6").
21 JUMP STREET
Gologram finished first Saturday in the long jump at the Benson/Hodge Memorial Invitational with a leap of 5.69 meters (18'8"), while junior
Lauren Chappell earned bronze at 5.14 meters (16'10.50"). Also finishing third in the jumps Saturday was freshman
Rayna Todero in the triple jump thanks to a distance of 11.18 meters (36'8.25").
HURDLING
Freshman
Bethany Naughton finished first Saturday in the 100-meter hurdles, clocking in at 15.55 seconds to finish ahead of Chappell, who crossed the finish line with a time of 15.84.
EMAIL ATTACHMENT
A pair of Colonials competing unattached earned individual championships Saturday, with freshman
Maizee Fry winning the shot put and rookie
Grace Mason posting the top time in the 800-meter. Fry posted a toss of 12.60 meters (41'4.25"), while Mason crossed the finish line with a time of 2:15.06.
UP NEXT
RMU heads to Loretto, Pa., Saturday, April 30, for its final meet of the regular season, taking part in the Red Flash Open.
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