The Rensselaer track and field team traveled to Springfield, Mass. on Saturday to compete against Springfield College, Westfield State, and Plattsburgh State. Both the men’s and women’s teams had numerous scoring athletes and two who qualified for the NCAA meet.
The men won the meet, scoring 250 points, beating Springfield by four points. Of the numerous athletes contributing to the score, many took first place in their events. In the track events, these top athletes included Joe Otto with 2:02.89, leading a RPI sweep in the 800 m, Mark Jensenius in the 1500 m with 4:15.18, David Hurtado in the 5000 m with 16:14.91, and Keith Weiss in the 3000 m steeplechase with 10:09.71. In the field events, Trevor Tersmette took first place in the high jump with 6’ 2”, Jason Langley won the pole vault in 13’ 5.75”, Sharath Alampur won the triple jump with 42’ 5.25”, and Nate Doyle won both the shot put with a throw of 50’ 3.25” and the discus with a mark of 136’ 5”. Mike Johnson was also a leading scorer, winning the hammer with a throw of 181’ 9”, qualifying him for the NCAA meet.
The women placed second to Springfield with a combined score of 196.5 points but had individual successes similar to the men’s team with many of the athletes scoring first or second place in their events. In the track events, Becky Lock won the 400 m hurdles in 1:07.15, and the 1600 m relay was won by the RPI team in 4:18.49 through the combined efforts of Rebecca Rosenberg-Beran, Michelle Fisher, Alyssa Coffey, and Alysia Evanitsky. In the field events, Katie Fredlund won the triple jump with 33’ 8.75”, Jo Alexander won the shot put with 38’ 4.25”, and there was a tie for first place in the pole vault between Jess Pearson and Allison Benson who both vaulted a height of 10’ 6”. Another outstanding performer was Felicia Tsai who qualified for the NCAA meet by throwing a distance of 148’ 7” in the hammer, placing second in the event.
The team has continued to have strong performances into the outdoor season, and already have two qualifications for the NCAA Championships, despite Saturday’s inclement weather. Next week, the Red Hawks will face stronger competition in Boston, where they will compete in the Engineer’s Cup.