The men’s and women’s track and field teams were on triple duty this weekend, as most team members traveled to Yale for the Mark Young Invitational, while smaller groups went to the Virginia Challenge at the University of Virginia and the Larry Elis Invitational at Princeton.
Several competitors excelled at Yale, earning numerous top-three finishes. Meanwhile, the athletes at Virginia posted similarly excellent performances, but the competition at the Virginia Challenge was stiffer than the Bears had seen in previous weeks, leading to lower overall finishes in the standings.
“Not many sports teams have the privilege of representing their school all over the country at once,” said co-captain Mo Akande ’15.
At Virginia, in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Natalie Schudrowitz ’18 claimed fifth place, and Lucy Van Kleunen ’17 claimed eighth. Both players shaved seconds off their times from two weeks ago.
Josie Natrasevschi ’18 continued her string of fine performances by nabbing third in the discus with a toss of 157-6, the best finish of all Brown competitors at the meet. She also placed sixth in the hammer throw with a 164-6 toss.
On the men’s side, co-captain Henry Tufnell ’15 finished sixth in a tight 800-meter race. Just over one second separated the first place runner and Tufnell.
At Yale, Audrey Holt ’18 snagged third in the 100- and 200-meter dashes with times of 11.98 and 24.27 seconds, respectively. Clare Peabody ’18 won the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:34.25, while Lydia Davenport ’16 got third, completing the race in 4:37.19. Victoria O’Neil ’16 triumphed in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 17:53.09.
Brown also saw several top finishes in the field events. Aubryn Samaroo ’17 cleared 1.60 meters to claim second in the high jump, while Chelsie Churchill ’16 leapt 11.19 meters, good for third in the triple jump. Michelle Bazile ’18 placed third in the discus with a throw of 38.52 meters.
The men’s team produced two victors: Christian Bermel ’16 with a time of 1:54.31 in the 800-meter run, and Mark Buda ’17 with a toss of 59.34 meters in the javelin throw.
Co-captain Courtland Clavette ’15 ended up with two second-place finishes, with a toss of 17.05 in shot put and a toss of 53.84 meters in discus. His shot put result bested his previous personal record. Aaron Comery ’17 also placed in shot put, finishing third with a 16.39 meter throw.
At Princeton, the small Bruno squad struggled to break into the top spots on the podium. Taylor Worthy ’17 recorded the team’s best finish with 16th place in the 800-meter run, good for a top-10 program time.
“I’m super proud of the performances this weekend,” Akande said. “We are on the right path to peak at outdoor championships.”
The team will continue its preparation for the upcoming Heptagonal Championships by competing in the Penn Relays next weekend.
