By Cynthia Retamozo

The women’s track team competed in the non-scoring Boston University Multi-Team Meet Monday at BU’s Track and Tennis Center. Many of the athletes who competed were underclassmen whom head coach Sherman Hart worked with to prepare for future meets.

“It gave me a chance to work with some people who I felt needed it,” he said. “The focus was on performance without the pressure.”

Senior Natalie Pennicooke won the 500m event with a time of 1:17.04, qualifying her for the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC).

“I went out to qualify for the ECAC and I knew I had to win to do that,” she said.

The Huskies placed in the top five for several events. Sophomore Olivia Kalinowska placed second in the pole vault (11-05.75) while junior Alyce Rybalko placed fifth in the long jump (16-05.75).

Sophomore Kristen Ripple took third in the high jump (5-03.00) also, while senior Erin Ballard took third in the 1000m (2:56.10).

The BU Multi-Team Meet also served as a preparation tool for the USTFCA Challenge Meet at Penn State University this Friday and Saturday.

The athletes who finished on top in Monday’s meet will compete at Penn State this weekend alongside other top athletes like senior Zara Northover, who qualified for nationals at the Great Dane Classic in the shot put, and senior sprinter Shanae Henry.

Hart said this will be the Huskies’ first time at the USTFCA Challenge Meet, which means new competition as they will be going against about 25 teams they have never competed with before.

Ballard and Pennicooke anxiously anticipate this weekend’s USTFCA.

“I hope for great competition,” Ballard said. “We’ll pull out under the pressure because we’re good at that.”

“We don’t know who is going to be there or what to expect,” Pennicooke said. “But it’s a great opportunity to go out and compete hard regardless.”