By: Kate Wiggins
The Golden Griffs men’s and women’s indoor track teams competed last weekend at the RIT Invitational on Friday in Rochester, N.Y., while other members of the team competed at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational hosted by Boston University on Friday and Saturday.
Starting with the RIT Invitational, there were several Griffs who had top-10 finishes. Sophomore Katie Gawronski crossed the finish line in the 1,000-meter run with a time of 3:16.52 to earn herself a first-place finish. Senior Bailey Pierce came just behind Gawronski with a time of 3:17.46 to take second place.
In the one-mile run, freshmen Taylor Heschke and Elizabeth Conforti finished in seventh and 10th place, with the respective times of 5:36.08 and 5:39.63. In the 60-meter dash, sophomore Maura Jordan set a school record with a time of 8.55 seconds. The team consisting of Gawronski, Jordan, Pierce, graduate student Leah Wardner and junior Heather Bugenhagen performed well in the 4x400-meter relay, taking second place with a finishing time of 4:29.16.
On the men’s side, graduate student Turner Dirrigl secured first place in the 1,000-meter run with a time of 2:37.96. Sophomore Pat Garland and sophomore Kevin Board finished the 1,000-meter run in fourth and fifth place, respectively, being separated by milliseconds with final times of 2:41.61 and 2:41.71. Senior Richard Moore crossed the finish line with a time of 2:02.5 in the 800-meter run, while sophomore Collin Rice took eighth with a time of 2:04.14.
Over at Boston University, senior star Libby Benzer was close to setting a school record in the one-mile run, with a time of 5:06.14, only one-tenth of a second short of the program record. Several more personal records were set at the Valentine Invitational: junior Marissa Silba finished with a time 10:27.93 in the 3,000-meter race, junior Tom Appenheimer crossed the finish line at 14:32.63 in the 5,000-meter run and junior Andrew Perreault had a time of 4:10.33 in the one-mile run, positioning himself as the second all-time record for the Griffs in the men’s mile. Senior Michael Peppey also ran a personal-best time of 14:34.10 in the 5,000-meter race.
Overall, the Golden Griffs performed exceptionally well last weekend at these two events. The team now prepares to take on the MACC Indoor Track and Field Championships, which will take place Feb. 19 and 20 at the New Balance Track and Field Center at The Armory in New York City.