The Red Hawk and Rensselaer’s Puckman decided to join the track and field team this weekend at the RPI Invitational which was held on Saturday April 24 at the Harkness Track. The non-scoring meet, which marked the end of the regular season, featured teams from Southern Vermont, Union, and the University at Albany, as well as many individual entries by Rensselaer Alumni.
Throughout a meet filled with many strong Rensselaer performances, the Red Hawk and Puckman found themselves in the middle of the excitement as they challenged each other in the first heat of the 200m dash. After an intense 199m sprint, Puckman edged out the Red Hawk to win the race by fractions of a second.
Several of their RPI teammates also performed quite well in their events. On the men’s team, Dwaine Alleyne won both the 110m hurdles in 15.06 and triple jump with a mark of 47ft 5.75in. Leaders of other track events included Kemar Brown running 23.76 in the 200m dash, Owen Kellett running 51.02 in the 400m dash, Joe Otto with a time of 1:59.75 in the 800m, Josh Schuster with 10:10.56 in the Steeplechase, and the 1600m relay team with a combined time of 3:41.59. In the field events, both Jason Legualt, with a height of 14ft even in the pole vault, and Lance Chase, with a mark of 97ft 5in in the hammer throw, won their respective events.
In the track events for the women’s team, the leading athletes included Carol Scalice with a time of 13.34 in the 100m dash, Alysia Evanitsky with 1:00.48 in the 400m dash, Alyssa Coffey with 2:22.62 in the 800m, and Lauren Carter running 9:01.15 in the 5000m. Other women winning their event in the jumps category were Alison Tripodi with a height of 5ft even in the high jump, and Allison Benson with a height of 10ft 10in in the pole vault. Finally, in the throws, the remaining leaders were Sue Madden with a mark of 44ft 1.5in in the shot put, Felicia Tsai with 128ft 8in in the discus, and Heather Maffei with 97ft 5in in the javelin throw.
Additionally, the team had several alumni competing in various events throughout the meet. In particular, recent graduate Duane Crammond entered and won the 5000m event in the time of 15:50.94. Alumnus Jeff Banks also tied the first place height of 14ft even in the pole vault. Other alums competing in the meet included Keith Weiss, Jeff Greer, and Leah Fisher.
As a majority of the team finished the regular season with the RPI Invite, a few of the multi-event athletes began their championship season early.
Freshman Jen Dias who had a very strong season throughout the year, competed in the NYSCTC heptathlon, placing third with 3691 points, setting a new school record in the event. Becky Lock, placing fifth, also scored points in the event, helping earn the first 10 points for the women as they enter the NYSCTC competition next weekend.
Beginning the championship season for the men’s team was Trevor Tersmette, who competed in the NYSCTC decathlon. Tersmette placed second in the event with 6010 points and provisionally qualified for the NCAA championship meet. He also earned the first 8 points for the men’s team as they enter the state championships.
Performances from the track and field season so far indicate a successful championship season as the team has developed strengths across many of the track as well as field events. Next weekend on Saturday, May 1 the team will compete in the NYSCTC meet which will be held in Brockport, N.Y. In the weeks following the state meet, athletes will also be competing in the ECAC championships at Williamstown, Mass. and finally in the NCAA meet held in Decatur, Ill.
