By Cynthia Retamozo
The women’s track ‘ field team competed in the first of two home meets of its outdoor season at the Northeastern Spring Open at Solomon Track in Dedham Saturday. The Huskies were led by sophomore Olivia Kalinowska, senior Zara Northover and sophomore Nancy Rowe, who won their respective events.
“The field events came out particularly strong,” said head coach Sherman Hart. “They’ll be an important component in the conferences.”
Hart also said several of the Huskies’ key sprinters, including senior Shanae Henry and freshman Consandria Walker, didn’t compete at the Spring Open in order to rest after a strenuous indoor season.
Senior Erin Ballard placed fifth in the 400-meter dash (59.78) with senior Ashley Wilson taking sixth (1:00.03) and freshman Celeste Holder placing seventh (1:00.04). Sophomore Amber Gibney placed fourth in the 800-meter run (2:19.90) with sophomore Brittany Moriarty finishing right behind (2:21.29).
Junior Kristie Gagnon placed fifth in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 38:00.71 and junior Tramaine Shaw placed fifth in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.20 seconds.
In the 400-meter hurdles, senior Aquila Williams-Judge finished third (1:07.03) and senior DaviAnn Brown placed seventh in the same event (1:10.03).
Junior Laura McCloskey competed in the first 3,000-meter steeplechase of the season for the Huskies, finishing third with a time of 12:14.36. This was the distance runner’s first time competing in the event. Northover won the shot put, throwing a distance of 14.87-meter and later placed third in the hammer throw (45.55 meters).
For the javelin event, Rowe seized first by throwing a distance of 39.31 meters with freshman Colleen Sorensen placing fourth (38.42 meters) in the same event.
NU will compete this weekend at Tufts University for the Snowflake Classic. Northover said the Spring Open was more for practice and development for the later conference events. She said she anxiously anticipates Snowflake because the whole women’s track team will compete.
“Many of us are coming off of breaks and injuries,” Northover said. “So the team is preparing for a turnaround to show how strong we are.”
