Track and field teams earn 10 first place finishes

Hartford outdoor track and field made their presence known at the CCSU Invitational on Saturday, April 27, earning an impressive total of ten first-place finishes. The men’s team was led by seven first-place finishers. In the field, sophomore Victor Shapovalov continued his dominance in the javelin, taking the title with a mark of 59.51m. With a mark of 6.95m, junior Terrel Davis earned first place in the high jump. Freshman Dylan Murad threw the shot put 13.94m to earn his first place finish. Rookies Ian Santiago and Dalton Burnham came out hungry for their first place finishes as well, as Santiago triple jumped 13.70m to win his event and Burnham took first in pole vault after vaulting 4.25m. Senior Willy Pierce clocked in with a time of 9:14 in the 3000m to secure his win. The Hawks also swept the high jump, with Connor Kenny taking first with 1.87m, Marcus Murray taking second, and Peter McNally coming in third. All around, the Hawks had impressive performances throughout the day. The boys team had plenty of success and accomplishments to go around as freshman Kaylan Depas and Keon Cooper also took runner-up honors in their respective events. The women’s track and field team piggybacked off the men’s team, recording three first place finishes at the Invitational. Rookie Haleemot Adeyanju clocked in at an impressive time of 5:01 to take the title in the 1500m bout. Freshman Jaela Thomas added to the women’s success with a first place finish in the 200m dash, and third in the 100m with times of 26:41 and 13:08, respectively. The Hawks also swept the long jump, with sophomore Elizabeth Lodge coming in first, junior Olivia Rougeau in second, and junior Lydia Farmer in third. Rougeau also made her presence known in the shot put, earning a second place title. Sophomore Abby Myers had a strong day as well in the 200m dash, earning third place with a time of 26.79. With ten total first place finishes, the future looks bright for the Hartford men and women track teams as they head into the America East Championship Meet on Saturday, May 4 and Sunday, May 5.