Hamilton College hosted its second-ever home invitational on Saturday, Apr. 6. What began as a chilly, overcast day blossomed into a warm, sunshine-filled event, bringing with it many fast times and solid marks for the Continentals.
Following on their prior success earlier in the season, the women’s team was right in the mix of teams looking to take home first place in the meet. The group of Cat Berry ’19, Marie Steiner ’20, Diamond Jackson ’21, and Mckela Kanu ’22 took second in the 4×100 relay to start the meet. The sprinters continued putting up impressive finishes with Berry and Steiner winning first and second place, respectively, in the 400-meter dash. It was more of the same in the 200-meter dash, with Berry, Jackson, and Steiner finishing in first, third, and fourth, respectively.
When asked about the strong showing from the sprinters, Berry said, “With so many events starting before the weather got nice out, I’m proud of how people competed. We had a lot of near [personal records] today; Kyandreia Jones ’19 ran her second best 110-meter hurdle time ever. If everyone is this close to their best in this weather, we’re poised to run even faster once it — hopefully — gets nicer out.”
The women’s distance and field athletes put forth an equally impressive effort to their sprinter counterparts. Asha Grossberndt ’21 and Andrea Shipton ’22 recorded personal bests during pole vault, and Lindsey Royce ’22 had the best javelin toss to launch her into the program’s top ten list. Katie Cronin ’21 hit a personal best in the 3-kilometer steeplechase.
Andy Uribe ’19 noted, “It was an up- and-down day for the distance women, but I’m proud of the fight we showed — especially in the cold. If anything, we’ll treat this meet as a training day and look towards the upcoming competitions.”
On the men’s side, last week’s meet marked the first time during the outdoor season that the team entered as a full roster. With a full team in tow, the results showed. The men opened the week by winning the 4×100 and qualifying for Atlantic Regionals — Ryan Sedwick ’19, Will Richardson ’21, Sam Robinson ’20, and Mitch Bierman ’21 comprised the first place group. Robinson in particular had a strong day as he took third and fourth in the 200-meter dash and 100-meter dash, respectively. Rounding out the day for the sprints was the 4×400 (comprised of the same group as the 4×100) which finished in second place, a mere two seconds off the Atlantic Regional qualifying standard. Captain Ryan Sedwick ’19 was pumped with the “high finishes and low times,” a sentiment which will undoubtedly carry the sprinters for the rest of the season.
Anchoring the 4×400 and bringing home the men’s lone individual first-place finish of the day was Lucas Wright ’21, who won the 800 meter in a highly-competitive field. Rounding out the stellar distance performances were Bryce Murdick ’20 and Nick Lyon ’22. Murdick captured third in the 5 kilometer with a new personal best, and Lyon set a new personal best in the 10 kilometer.
Fans can follow the Continentals this Friday at the SUNY Cortland Fri- day Night Under the Lights Invite in Cortland, N.Y. at 3:00 PM. Their next home meet is the Hamilton Mid-Week Invitational on Tuesday, April 16 at 3:00 PM at Pritchard Track.
