University of Connecticut Athletics
Women's Track Takes First Place At UConn Invite
4/8/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
STORRS, Conn. (April 8, 2006) – The University of Connecticut women’s track team braved the elements to win the UConn Invitational on Saturday afternoon. The Huskies finished with 288 points, 178 points better than second place Brown University. Brown finished with 110 points and Rhode Island took third with 78 points. Connecticut finished first in 13 of 19 events at the meet. Sophomore Tamara Highsmith (East Haven, Conn.) placed first in two events for the Huskies.
"This meet was a great team effort," said Head Coach Bill Morgan. "We showed a high level of resolve in dealing with the weather conditions as we performed at an impressive level. From Kara Budd (East Longmeadow, Mass.)in the 200, to Cassie Buckwalter (New Wilmington, Pa.) in the discus, Highsmith in a number of events, and Jillian Sullivan (Bristol, Conn.) with the Niamh and Orlaith Cunningham (Branford, Conn.) in the distance events, the young ladies took care of business with the maturity and focus of a top team. The staff is so proud of their continued development – we’re on the move!"
Freshmen dominated in the sprints for UConn. Jessica Foreman (Wayland, Mass.) took first place in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.85. Classmate Budd took second in the event at 12.07. Monique Hodges (Wethersfield, Conn.) placed fourth in the event with a time of 12.37. Marla Brown (Norwalk, Conn.) took fifth place and Jessica White (Middleton, Mass.) finished sixth.
Budd went on to take first in the 200 with a personal-best time of 24.41. Foreman took second in the event at 24.53. Brown took fifth at 25.14 and fellow freshman Sharelle Green (New London, Conn.) took sixth.
Alyssa Evering (Bel Air, Md.) competed in the 400 for only the second time this season and took home first place with a personal-best time of 57.21. UConn swept the top-three spots with Mandela Graves-Fulgham (Shutebury, Mass.) taking second with a personal-best 57.27 and junior Jennifer Rogers (Parksville, B.C.) in third with a time of 58.49.
In the 5,000, senior Cunningham placed first with a time of 18:06.90. Rebecca McCollum (Monroe, Conn.) took sixth in the event. Also competing in the distance events was junior Sullivan who took second place in the 1,500. In the 3,000 steeplechase, sophomore Cunningham took fourth place.
Highsmith captured her first win of the day in the 100 hurdles. She raced in a time of 14.40. In the 400 hurdles, freshman Kaitlyn Whitlock (Bethel, Conn.) took the top spot with a time of 1:04.18 and junior Marlene Priest (South Dennis, Mass.) followed closely behind with a second place finish at 1:04.20.
UConn captured first in both relay events. The Huskies took first in the 4x100 in 46.31 and took first in the 4x400 in 3:50.86.
In the field events, freshman Rachael Porter (Watertown, Conn.) captured the top spot in the high jump with a height of 1.70m. This is a personal best for her. Taking second in the event was Highsmith with a jump of 1.65m.
In the pole vault Lisa Kachmarsky (Monroe, N.Y.) and Leah Williams (Brookfield, Conn.) finished in third and fourth place, respectively. They both finished with a vault of 3.50m.
Rogers and Highsmith both recorded personal bests in the long jump on Saturday. Rogers took first place with a jump of 5.80m. This is .23m better than her previous personal-best. Highsmith followed in second place with a jump of 5.69m., .11m better than her previous best.
Highsmith and Rogers teamed up again in the triple jump to take first and second place, respectively. Highsmith finished with a jump of 12.69m and Rogers at 11.38m.
In the throwing events, junior Cassie Buckwalter (New Wilmington, Pa.) placed first in the discus with a season-best throw of 43.69m. Junior Allison Booth (Shelby, Ohio) took third in the event and freshman Regina Graziano (Guilford, Conn.) placed fourth.
At the hammer throw, sophomore Erin Donnelly (Barrington, R.I.) threw a first place throw of 48.94m. Buckwalter took second at 45.84m and freshman Jennifer Krodel (Salem, Conn.) placed fourth.
Freshman Amanda Martin (Rowley, Mass.) took second place in both the javelin and the shot put for the Huskies.
The Huskies will be back in action at the Brown Invitational on April 15.
