The men and women’s track and field teams competed in its first team-scoring meet of the season at the Great Dane Classic in New York City Friday. The women’s team finished 10th of 22 squads, while the men placed 12th in a like field.
Sophomore Amanda Cole performed in record fashion for the women’s team. Cole broke her own school record in the weight throw with a heave of 46-9, 3/4 ft. Freshman Melissa Gale set a season high with a height of 11-3, 3/4 ft in the pole vault, good for second place.
“I tried to do my best [and] came out with a season-high mark and [earn] second place,” Gale said. Freshman Brittney McRae performed well in three events, finishing third in the long jump, eighth in the 55m hurdles and 18th in the 55m dash.
“I was more focused than usual,” McRae said. “I thought I would do better than usual.”
Sophomores Carlleen Allison and Devon
DuPont each finished eighth in their respective events. Allison raced to a 26.62 time in the 200m. DuPont jumped 5-1 in the high jump.
“The team is very young and we’re doing
very well right now,” Gale said. “In three or four years, we can be really good. The upperclassmen help us out a lot with the workouts and everything.”
“The track team is a young team,” McRae said. “Being a freshman I need to make a spot to stand out.”
Youth was also a theme for the men’s team.
Joshua Louis also placed in the top 10 in two events. The sophomore finished third in the high jump with a leap of 6-7 and ninth in the 55m hurdles with a time of 7.82 seconds. Two other underclassmen, Adam Hegal and Bryce Buffaloe, also placed in the top 10. Hegal, a freshman, finished sixth in the long jump with a leap of 6.91m. Buffaloe, a sophomore, placed seventh in the weight throw with a toss of 51 feet, 1/4 inches. Another underclassman, freshman Rob McGriff, posted season bests. His 6.55 time in the 55m dash was good for 16th place and his 22.81 time in the 200m earned him 25th.
“It’s a real big difference [having freshmen], said junior Marcos Edghill. “We have a lot of potential point scorers. As upperclassmen, we are able to encourage them to do their best in practice and in the meet.”
Edghill also chipped in, recording two finishes in the top 16. The junior sprinter finished sixth in the 55m hurdles and 16th in the 55m dash. He missed qualifying for the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes in America meet in the hurdles by one hundredth of a second. The IC4A standard is 7.72. Edghill finished at 7.73.
“I wanted to qualify for IC4A,” he said. “But I was pleased to make it back to the finals and have a chance to run a better time.”
Pete Dorchak can be reached at pdorchak@temple.edu.
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