Wildcats Edged Out in Opening Home Meet

Saturday, April 7

Durham, N.H.

11 AM

University of New Hampshire

Holy Cross, Maine, Colby, UMass Lowell

(Photo by Helene Bartsch)

Photo by: Helene Bartsch

4/7/2018 7:30:00 PM | Women's Track & Field

DURHAM, N.H. – The University of New Hampshire track and field teams hosted their annual season opening meet at the Reggie Atkins Track & Field Facility in Wildcat Stadium and in the surrounding areas.

The teams placed in the top two, with the men's team winning by over 30 points with a final team score of 211, followed by Maine at 168. The women's team was just edged out by Maine, 166-165 in the team score.

The 'Cats took four of the top five spots in the javelin, with the winner being UNH's Natalie Howes (Londonderry, N.H.) who threw 115'07". The Wildcats then finished three, four, five with Carly Orlacchio (Cromwell, Conn.) taking third with a throw of 110', Alyssa Colbert (Smithfield, R.I.) in fourth with 109'4", and Alexandra Toback posting her first collegiate result, a throw of 107'7" landing her in fifth.

Emily Wernig (Gilford, N.H.) won the discus throw with a best throw of 129'9". Her personal best in the event is a UNH record of 148'1" set in 2016. The runner up was Colbert, who finished with 117'10".

New Hampshire continued to dominate the track, with Meg Champagne (Plattsburgh, N.Y.) taking first in the 1500m, posting a time of 4:46.91, just six seconds behind her personal best set at last years pre-conference meet. She was followed by Madeleine Brandon (Killingworth, Conn.) who had a runner-up time of 4:52.36. Kayla Farren (Nashua, N.H.) finished in third with a new personal best time in the event, 4:56.40 and Shannon Stang (Medford, N.J.) rounded out the top five finishing in 5:05.38.

In the 100 meter hurdles, Maria Virga took first in 15.04 seconds, and the 3000 meter run was won by Champagne who finished in 10:21.73. Hannah Kimball (Atkinson, N.H.) won the 800m run in 2:19.78, just 2.1 seconds off her personal best time in the event.

UP NEXT:
The 'Cats are back in action next week for the Providence Invitational on Friday, April 13. UNH will be back in Durham next Saturday for a tri meet with Merrimack and UMass Lowell on Saturday, April 14 starting at 11 A.M.

TEAM SCORES:

Women - Team Rankings - 19 Events Scored

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    1) Maine                      166        2) New Hampshire       165

    3) Holy Cross                 145        4) Colby               130

    5) UMass Lowell                24

MEET RESULTS:
Other key performances for the Wildcats on Saturday:

Mary Mullen (Loudon, N.H.) finished second in the hammer throw, throwing 130'8" and Laura Jackson (Dolyestown, Pa.) took fourth with a throw of 126'7".
Natalie Howes also participated in the pole vault and tied for third place with Sabrina Anderson (Hopewell, N.J.) with a height of 10'2.75".
Finishing behind Champagne in the 3000 meter run, Madeline Quigley (Rowley, Mass.) finished in fifth in 10:43.84 and Morgan Sansing (Chester, N.H.) took sixth in 10:45.48.
In the 400 meter hurdles, Emileigh Glode (Boxbourough, Mass.) came from behind in the final turn to take first in 1:06.62. Virga finished fourth in 1:10.99.
Chloe Holowachuk (Smithfield, R.I.) took second in the 200 meter hurdles in 27.01 seconds; Marisa Gazzola took fifth in 28.4 seconds.
In the relays, the 4x400 was run by Brianne Moss (Shrewsbury, Mass.), Hannah Kimball, Caroline Kageleiry, and Michaella Conery (Concord, N.H.) took fourth in 4:31.51, and in the 4x100, Holowachuck, Kristen Bourque (Londonderry, N.H.), Orlacchio, and Glode finishing third in 51.24 seconds.