LOWELL, MA. – The East Stroudsburg University women's track and field team competed against a number of Division I, II & III schools on day one of UMass Lowell's River Hawk Invitational on Friday from The Track at New Balance.
A handful of Warriors recorded top-10 finishes in their respective events including Bri Hennett (4th – 5000m), Payton Falkenstein (10th – 5000m), Samiyah Little (6th – Weight Throw), Elizabeth Makar (9th – Weight Throw, 10th – Shot Put) and Nickolina Annelli (6th – Pole Vault).
Additionally, ESU added four PSAC automatic qualifying times and marks which included the following Warriors in their respective events, graduate student Holly Chambers (mile), Anna Roth (triple jump), Falkenstein (5000m), and Hennett (5000m).
Hennett continued to rewrite the record books as the Northumberland native smashed a 35-year-old freshman record in the 5000m by 39.08 seconds as she crossed the line in 17:45.96. The previous mark of 18:25.04 was held by ESU Hall of Famer and two-time All-American Jenn Moyer since 1989.
Running Highlights
The highlight of the busy day on the track for ESU came in the 5000m as Hennett notched a fourth place finish with the fifth fastest time in program history (17:45.96), while Falkenstein rounded out the top-10 with a conference qualifying mark of 18:22.72. With their performances, Hennett and Falkenstein rank first and fifth respectively in the PSAC. Sophomore Megan Elgrim (27th – 19:27.70) and freshman Mia Sisilli (28th – 19:45.92) also competed for the Warriors.
In the 60m hurdles, senior Elyssa Pemu recorded a 12th place after clocking a personal-best time of 9.98. Freshman Makayla Smith finished 31st in the qualifying portion of the 60m hurdles with a time of 9.73.
Chloe Domurat paced the Warriors in the 60m dash as the freshman took 25th with a time of 8.22 while junior Kayla Horning finished 39th at 8.34.
On her way to a 27th place finish in the mile, Chambers ran a PSAC automatic qualifying time of 5:17.15 while freshman Carla Bautista was a few spots behind in 35th at 5:22.20.
With six Warriors competing in the 800m, Bautista (2:24.35) paced the group as the freshman finished 23rd. She was followed by fellow classmate Hannah Skelly (28th – 2:25.85), Chambers (38th – 2:30.06) as well as freshmen Tara Haring (47th – 2:33.76), Kiera Wimbush (48th – 2:34.41) and Gabriela Orama (49th – 2:34.57). Bautista and Skelly each clocked personal-best times while Chambers finished in a season-best.
Aaliyah Cancel nearly recorded a conference qualifying time in the 400m as the freshman crossed the line in 1:00.45 to finish in 23rd.
A quartet of Warriors ran in the 200m as Domurat led the way in 47th (26.36) while Cancel took 63rd (26.67) as the duo both notched personal-best times. Horning finished 84th at a season-best 27.15 and Smith was 96th with a time of 27.67.
In the 3000m, Kelly Martin finished inside the top-50 at 49th place as the freshman ran a personal-best time of 11:16.70, seven seconds less than her previous top mark.
The 4x400m relay of Horning, Domurat, Smith and Cancel combined to run the Warriors' fastest time of the season at 4:06.49 on the way to finishing 13th.
Field Event Highlights
In the invitational section of the weight throw, ESU recorded a pair of top-10 finishes as Little took sixth with a mark of 16.79m (55-1) on her first throw while two-time All-American Makar was ninth following a season-best toss of 16.26m (53-4). In the other section of the weight throw, freshman Sarah Roth notched a 30th place finish at 10.77m (35-4).
Makar returned to the throws area for the shot put as the Oxford rounded out the top-10 after launching the spherical ball 12.86m (42-2 ¼), while fellow classmate Madison Horahan finished 15th at 11.35m (37-3).
Annelli highlighted a stacked pole vault field as the senior placed tied for sixth and was the highest Division II finisher after matching her season-best height of 3.60m (11-9 ¾) on her final attempt. Senior Heather Gaughran finished 24th with a mark 3.15m (10-4) and freshman Reese Ruggiero took 32nd at 3.00m (9-10).
Roth hit the PSAC automatic qualifying mark right on the dot in the triple jump as the freshman leaped 10.90m (35-9 ¼) on her first attempt to finish 22nd. Fellow classmate Samantha Rosado took 30th with a mark of 10.31m (33-10).
Pemu turned her attention to the field events as the senior finished tied for 16th in the triple jump after clearing the bar at 1.53m (5-0 ¼).
Up Next
The Warriors are back in the Poconos next Sunday as ESU hosts the 24th Annual DeSchriver Invitational inside Koehler Fieldhouse and the Zimbar Gym. Throwing events kick off the meet at 9:30 a.m. followed by running events at 11:00 a.m.
