A short-handed women's track and field team hosted its first home meet of the spring season Saturday at Brown Stadium. The Bears managed to put up some impressive numbers despite missing most of their sprinters and throwers, who were competing at the Sea Ray Relays hosted by the University of Tennessee.
"Sea Ray Relays is one of the greatest track events in the country, especially for the sprinters," said middle-distance runner Naja Ferjan '07. "Some of the best sprinters in the country come every year. Unfortunately, it was on the same weekend as the home meet. It was definitely hard to compete against UConn without our sprints crew, especially since UConn brought its entire sprints squad to Brown."
Despite the depleted roster, the team managed to do just fine in front of the home crowd.
"I like competing at home because all of the alumni come to see us race," Ferjan said. "I was surprised to see a number of my professors with their families came too."
Ferjan made sure she put on quite a show for the fans, winning the 800-meter run by two seconds with a time of 2:10.82. Jenna Ridgway '10 followed her teammate with a 2:14.82 finish, which was good for fourth place. Ridgway also competed in the mile, in which she finished second with a time of 4:53.25, a personal best by six seconds. Teammate Smita Gupta '08 finished fourth in 5:03.73 in the event to round out the shorter distances.
It was a good day to be a senior. Both Ferjan and Herald Assistant Sports Editor Madeleine Marecki '07 won their respective events. Marecki's finish came in the 3,000-meter run, where she blazed to a personal best time of 10:32.94, almost four seconds ahead of teammate Lena Groeger '08, who finished second in 10:36.19. Colleen Brogan '10 rounded out the scoring in the event with a fourth place finish of 10:54.91.
"I was most proud of Madeleine Marecki's first collegiate win in the 3,000 meters," Ferjan said. "It was great to see her breakthrough performance on the home track."
Breakthroughs continued in the steeplechase as Lindsay Kahn '08 and Brooke Giuffre '10 provided big boosts for the Bears by coming in second and third, respectively, with times of 10:46.98 and 11:01.5. Kahn's performance was an NCAA-Regional qualifying time, and Giuffre's race was her first time running the event.
Tiffany Chang '08 placed second in the pole vault by clearing 11-feet 5.75-inches. There was a dramatic tie for third as teammates Cassandra Wong '10 and Keely Marsh '08 each bested 10-11.75 feet in the event.
The next slated competition for the Bears will be at the UConn Husky Spring Invitational next week in Storrs, Conn., where the Bears will continue to improve on their times, heights and throws as they move closer and closer to the Heptagonal Championships three weeks away.
"Weather in outdoor track in the Northeast is a huge factor for performances, and it looks hopeful to be a decent day this Saturday in Storrs," Lake said.
