NEW LONDON, Conn. – Despite the rainy and windy conditions, the Roger Williams University Track & Field team came through with a solid performance at the Silfen Invitational, hosted by Connecticut College, as the Men finished ninth while the Women came in 10th.
Highlighting the men's side was Thomas Maybury (East Longmeadow, Mass.), who finished runner-up in the 3000 Meter Steeplechase, coming in with a time of 10:16.53, nearly winning the event before getting passed at the end.
“The conditions were absolutely horrendous, especially early on, with heavy rain, cold temperatures, and wind,” said Head Coach Sean Livingston. “Tom had the worst of it in the steeple but he didn't let that ruin his race. He took it out hard. I thought he ran a gutsy race.”
At the 800 Meter Run, Steven Carnevale (Easton, Mass.) finished fourth with a personal best of 2:00.7.
“It was a nice race for Steve; he's putting himself in position to break two minutes,” said Livingston.
The 4 x 800 Meter Relay team of Carnevale, Maybury, John Ferguson (Bethel, Conn.), and Jonathan Ellis (Yonkers, N.Y.) came in second with a time of 8:25.32.
Sophomore throws specialist Emil Pornelos (Hartford, Vt.) led the men team in scoring amid downpours, taking fourth in the Discus with a throw of 130' 6”, fifth in the Shot Put with a heave of 41' 6.5” and eighth in the Hammer Throw with a toss of 126' 6”.
Emil had another good day for us,” said throws coach Tom Conley. “This was some of the worst weather they've had to throw in since I've been coaching here and he still managed to put up some decent numbers. I'm excited to see what he does at conference next weekend.”
Other Hawk throwers performed well despite the inclement weather. Captain Donovan Currier (Burlington, Vt.) took 11th place in the Hammer with a solid mark of 121' 11”, junior Robert Strother (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) had a personal best in the Shot Put, sending the ball out to 32' 11”, and freshman Andrew Mirabito (Bay Shore, N.Y.) had his best day ever in the Discus, hurling the platter 90' 3”.
For the women, Liliana Rutler (Wyckoff, N.J.) set a personal best in the 5000 Meter Run with a time of 19:04.53, finishing second overall and just eight seconds off from qualifying for the New England Championships.
“This was Lily's best race of the season,” said Livingston. “She hung with the lead pack and was on pace to break 19 for most of the race. I know she has it in her to get well under 19 and today was a big step for her, running 23 seconds faster than last week.”
The Hawks also earned a pair of wins on the day, with Maggie Blinn (Billerica, Mass.) taking first in the Long Jump with a distance of 15' 5”. The 4 x 100 Meter Relay team, consisting of Maria Lobalbo (Bethel, Conn.), Megan Breault (Agawam, Mass.), Meghan Krauss (Holliston, Mass.), and Hannah Noel (Adams, Mass.), won with a time of 52.22, a season best.
The 4 x 800 Meter Relay team of Alexandra Honkala (South Royalton, Vt.), Katie O'Koren (Franklin, Mass.), Kristen St. Pierre (Dracut, Mass.), and Anne Cassidy (Chelmsford, Mass.) finished runner-up with a time of 10:34.81.
Cassidy also placed third in the 200 Meter Dash with a run of 27.84, while Honkala ran her fastest time of the year in the 800 Meter Dash with a time of 2:33.09.
“The mid-distance and distance runners hung in there all day and ran every race I had planned for them to do, despite the challenging conditions,” said Livingston. “I give them a lot of credit; it wasn't easy to stand out in the rain and wind for six hours waiting for your race to be run. I think they are all set up to run really well next week at the conference meet and if we get anything close to good weather, we're going to roll.”
Roger Williams looks to defend its Commonwealth Coast Conference title next week at the championship meet next Saturday.
