In their first indoor meets of 2011, freshmen performances helped fuel both men’s and women’s track teams to top finishes.
The women were triumphant at the Navy Invitational inside Wesley Brown Fieldhouse in Annapolis, Md., propelled by victories from freshman Gabrielle Piper in the 60-meter hurdles, sophomore Leslie Kovach in the 3,000-meter run and the 4x400 relay team.
That winning relay, run by the junior foursome of Victoria Strickland, Renee McDougall, Leah Brown and Paige Madison, finished with a time of 3:53.77, eight seconds faster than the runners-up.
Two hundred miles up the coast, the men’s team finished third at the Saturday Night at the Armory Invitational in New York, N.Y., led by freshman Maalik Reynolds’ astounding 7-foot-3 high jump, a school record and the best of the meet .
Sophomore Matt Chylak and Senior Philip Cawkwell also raced to first-place finishes for the Quakers. Chylak led the 31-man field in the 1,000 meter run with a time of 2:27.75, and Cawkwell ran to victory in the 3,000 meter run with a time of 8:23.09. Fellow senior Luke Grau, who clocked in at 8:24.67, finished second.
It was the first scored meet of both the teams’ indoor seasons.
The women will join the men on a trip back to New York Friday, to compete in the Great Dane Classic, hosted by University of Albany.
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