NU track and field earns 12 gold medals

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Chris Butler

Northeastern University’s track and field team earned 12 first-place finishes and several top-five finishes between meets at Yale University and University of Massachusetts Amherst April 7-8.

“We were really pleased,” head coach Tramaine Shaw said. “We saw some really, really good results. The athletes were great.”

At the Yale Invitational, third-year Paige Sues earned a gold medal in women’s high jump with a mark of 1.72 meters. In long jump, first-year Khailah Griffin placed first with a jump of 5.52, while first-year Shareya Srihivasan placed first in the triple jump with a mark of 11.38.

Northeastern earned four of the top five spots in the men’s 200-meter dash. Third-year Collins Ebozue earned first place with a time of 22.11, followed by second-year Brandon Moorer in second place, running 22.35. Placing fourth and fifth were second-year Austin Lin with a time of 22.60 and third-year Chris Jewett with a time of 22.62.

Fourth-year Jordan Samuels earned a gold medal in the men’s 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.25. Fourth-year Nick Fofana ran a time of 15.08, earning fifth place.

The 4×100-meter relay team of first-year Christian Bobowicz, second-year Anthony Roderick, Ebozue and Moorer placed first with a time of 43.56 while the 4×400-meter relay team of Moorer, Lin, Jewett and fifth-year David Johnston placed first with a time of 3:21.50.

“We have a lot of people who were returning from injury,” Shaw said. “To see all of them take the line was really exciting.”

At the Minuteman Invitational at University of Massachusetts Amherst, fourth-year Jay Navin earned first place in the 1500-meter with a time of 4:01.12. First-year Jonathan Prus ran 4:01.19, earning fifth, while fifth-year Connor Quinn ran 4:04.35, earning seventh.

Northeastern throwers earned the top four spots in the men’s shot put, leading with fourth-year Ryan Kim with a throw of 17.07. Following him was second-year Andrew Cannistraci in second place with a throw of 15.80. Fourth-years Spencer McKeough and Eric Mellusi earned third and fourth with throws of 15.78 and 15.59 respectively.

“Really seeing how the throwers and the distance runners performed was amazing,” Shaw said. “They do really, really big things for us on a conference level.”

Mellusi also earned gold in the discus with a throw of 51.09. Fourth-year Robert Alder earned bronze with a throw of 43.85 while Kim earned fifth place with a throw of 41.09.

On the women’s side, second-year Leeyan Redwood placed first in the discus with a mark of 41.16, followed by third-year Priscilla Senoo in second place with a mark of 41.10.

Senoo also placed second in the shot put, throwing 13.40, while Redwood earned third, throwing 13.03.

Second-year Erica Belvit earned first place in the women’s hammer throw with a throw of 55.58.

Other top-five finishers at Amherst included first-year Kelsey Walak in the 800-meter, fourth-year Madeline Bradford in the 3000-meter steeplechase and fourth-year Connor Fugere in the hammer as well as third-year Amy Piccalo, fourth-year Corrine Myers and fifth-year Sarah Alder in the 400-meter dash.

Top finishers at Yale include second-year Travis Kartz in the pole vault, third-years Julia Marshall and Jaliyah White in the 100-meter hurdles and fourth-years Jessica Scott and Audrey Weyand in the 200-meter and 400-meter respectively.

“We just have a group of hard working athletes who are ready to rise to any occasion,” Shaw said. “They have some really high expectations of themselves, and every year they set that bar a little higher.”

Northeastern will be hosting their next meet this Saturday at the Solomon Outdoor Track. Shaw encourages Northeastern students to attend the home meet and support the team.