The Brown women's track and field team won the University of Connecticut Invitational Saturday - the Bears' first win of the outdoor season and the first time they beat UConn since the indoor track season of 2000.
Distance Coach Rick Wemple said he sees the win as a "good indicator of improvement" as the team prepares for the Brown Invitational April 16.
In the running events, Fara Kitton '05 had two excellent performances in the 400- and 100-meter hurdles and also ran in the 4x100 meter relay. She won the 400 hurdles in 62.06 seconds and managed a 14.52 in the 100-meter hurdles despite a strong headwind and block slip at the starting line. "My time was decent, all things considered," Kitton said. "I am planning on PR-ing next week and every time from here on out."
Eleven women raced the 1,500-meters for Brown. Many of them used the race as a tuneup for next week's meet, in which they will be competing in a variety of events including steeplechase, and the 5,000 and 1,500. Four of the women set personal bests, the most notable of which was turned in by Anna Willard '06, who won the race in 4:37.29. The sheer number of Bears on the starting line made for an "awesome intimidation factor," said Wemple.
Naja Ferjan '07 and co-captain Kelly Powell '06 took first and second place respectively in the 800-meter. Powell led the first lap and the two worked together to set the pace for Ferjan's 2:09.69 win and Powell's outdoor personal best of 2:13.66. Jaylon White '05 won the 100-meter dash in 12.85, followed closely by teammate Lauren Hale '07 in 13.17.
In field events, the Bears claimed three of the top four spots in the pole vault. Janea Russ '06 and Tiffany Chang '08 both jumped 11 feet 5 3/4 inches for first and second place, and Allison Brager '07 took fourth at 10-6.
Dominique Bosa-Edwards '05 placed second in the triple jump, and Ashley Wall '05 took third in the long jump at 17-10 1/4. Jumps Coach Anne Rothenberg said Wall's "competitive effort was there, but the results weren't." Her performance is typical for a meet this early in the season. The team has been training through this and last weekend's meets, focusing on competing well rather than getting impressive results. Rothenberg says they are about "one week away from when we start to sharpen up a bit." By then, the team hopes that training from early competitions will translate into better results in later meets and culminate in strong results at the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships.
Sarah Groothuis '08 improved on last week's impressive performance with a 156-07 win in the discus, immediately qualifying her for NCAA Regionals. Her throw is within four feet of the school record and places her on Brown's all-time top 10 list in the event.
Co-captain Jill Lynch '05 placed second in the shot put with 44-2 3/4.
Jen Donahue '05 and Laura Dudek '07 ended a solid meet for the throwers. Donahue won the hammer throw with 162-8 and Dudek took second place in the javelin throw at 131-10 and qualified for ECACs in the process. "Everyone performed very solidly and we are very excited about where we are right now," said Throws Coach Michelle Eisenreich.
Overall, Rothenberg said the meet "provided good solid competition in all events" and a valuable opportunity to "compete against New England powerhouses UConn and Northeastern." As the first win of the outdoor season, the meet set a positive tone for next week, and performances are expected to improve as long as the Bears continue to put forth a strong effort.
