Track and Field Opens 2023 Outdoor Season on Fire

their first meet of the 2023 outdoor season. The Hawks set the track on fire at the Lloyd Sigler Spring Meet as the women finished first overall as a team, and the men finished second place overall as a team.

It was a huge team effort that brought success to each team as many individuals outperformed the competition. On the men’s side of things, there were 17 top-three finishes that included four first-place finishers. Senior Cole Cayer was one of the first-place finishers in his respective event. Cayer ran a 15:55.58 in the 5000m run to stand on top of the podium. Along with Cayer, Sophomore Conor Convery and Senior Anthony Clavette took home the gold in their events. Convery recorded a distance of 48.61m in the hammer throw and Clavette cleared 1.95m in the high jump. To continue the hot streak for the Hawks was the men’s 4x100m relay team which included sophomores Kaden Leonard and Brandom Edmund, along with freshmen pairing Isaiah Grupee and Spencer Beane. The quartet clocked a time of 43.11 seconds to put them on top of the podium, making it the sixth fastest time in program history.

On the women’s side of the meet, they finished on top of the podium in 12 of the 19 scoring events. Taking home first place in multiple events was sophomore Marlina Voker. Voker tore up the track after running the 100m dash with a time of 12.27 seconds, and the 200m dash with a time of 25.54 seconds. Senior Hailey Marcello also finished in first place in multiple events. She ran a 2:29.64 in the 800m event and a 5:03.11 in the 1500m event. Along with Voker and Marcello, graduate student Haleemot Adeyanju and junior Sydney, Garrison continued the first-place success for the Hawks. Adeyanju ran a time of 1:01.75 in the 400m dash while Garrison cleared 1.55m in the high jump. The second Hawk to put themselves in the record books at this event was freshman Mariah Nichols. Nichols finished first overall in the 400m hurdles with a time of 1:13.65, making it the 10th fastest time in Hartford history.

Hartford track and field will take a three-week break before they hit the track again for their next meet. They will return on Saturday, March 25, to compete in the UMass Lowell Invitational.