Members of the New York University men and women's track & field distance squad traveled to New London, CT, on Friday, April 14, to compete in the Silfin Invitational hosted by Connecticut College. Other members of the distance squad competed at the Larry Ellis Invitational hosted by Princeton University in Princeton, NJ.
The women's 800-meter run kicked off competition in Connecticut with
Aminata Johnson crossing the line in 2:18.88 to score third in a field of 16.
Jaylyn Wagner achieved a new top-time with her 2:31.57 finish.
Four Violets placed within the top-10 in the women's 5k, with
Leah Haley leading the pack finishing third with a time of 17:34.76.
Lucy Gott (17:51.53) placed fifth while
Katherine Cheng (18:28.62) and
Daniela Sekhar (18:35.25) finished ninth and 10th, respectively. Gott, Cheng and
Hannah Marin (18:40.15) earned new personal records with their performances on Friday.
"Having so many teammates alongside me in the race helped energize me and made it a perfect race to PR," said Haley. "Coming out of this meet, I believe we are in a great spot for conferences next weekend."
In the men's 5k, four Violets surpassed their previous best times:
Jeffrey Chen (14:57.57),
Brandon Meiner (15:36.12),
Hamza Mankor (15:36.28), and
Sam Frank (15:53.88).
The 1,500 also saw new personal bests set for both the men and the women.
Andy Taylor crossed the line in 4:01.60 earning eighth place and finishing seconds behind him were
Jake Chang (4:04.42) and
Jorge Rocha (4:07.56).
Janie Cooper's 4:50.89 and
Estelle Gladden's 4:52.10 earned them new top times as they placed fifth and seventh, respectively.
In New Jersey,
Grace Richardson took the track for the first time since competing in the 5k at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships. Richardson beat out her fastest 5k indoor time, finishing 13th with a time of 17:04.86 in the seeded heat.
Ryan Tobin topped his previous record of 14:32.70 that he set two weeks ago at the Colonial Relays in Williamsburg, VA, with a sixth place, 14:31.99 finish in the 5k.
Viv Kane posted a 4:37.35 in her first collegiate 1,500 and
Jon Diaz (1:53.14) competed in the 800-meter run.
The Violets are back in action next weekend, April 22-23, when they travel to Chicago, IL, to compete in the University Athletic Association (UAA) Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
