RESULTS
When and Where: April 9, 2016 – Springfield, Mass. (John G. Hoyt Track)
Result: Southern New Hampshire University 25 (13th/20)
Junior Sahara Brown (Center Barnstead, N.H.) and freshman Ashley Elder (Bristol, Conn.) each posted top-three finishes to help Southern New Hampshire University post a 13th-place finish at the sixth annual Yellow Jacket Invitational at American International College on Saturday.
Stonehill College captured the meet with a team total of 100.60, followed by the University of New Haven (84.50), Bridgewater State University (70), Westfield State University (65.60) and the host Yellow Jackets. Keene State University (43.50) checked in at No. 6, while Rhode Island College (43), Franklin Pierce University (42.50), Merrimack College (41.10) and Assumption College (38) rounded out the top-10. The University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth (35) was No. 11, before Worcester State University (29) and the Penmen (25).
Brown continued her success in the javelin on Saturday with a second-place performance, which comes on the heels of back-to-back wins in the event in her previous two outings. She tossed the javelin 40.50 meters, which was just 2.66 meters outside the top spot.
Elder turned in another strong showing in the discus throw with a third-place finish. She launched the disc 38.50 meters and was 3.21 meters behind the winning toss. Elder's throw was her longest in three events this spring and also placed her in the top-three for the third straight meet.
Brown, junior Melissa Handy (Durham, Conn.) and sophomore Melissa Melanson (Goffstown, N.H.) also partook in the discus event, with Brown and Handy posting personal bests. Brown finished sixth overall after a throw of 35.61 meters and Handy was No. 12 with a final of 31.03 meters. Melanson rounded out the Southern New Hampshire contingent with a 23.90-meter showing, which was good enough for No. 27.
Melanson and Elder also earned personal bests on Saturday, with theirs coming in the hammer throw. Melanson was the top Penmen competitor after launching the weight 40.05 meters en route to a ninth-place finish. Elder tallied a distance of 32.69 meters, which put her at No. 22 overall.
Southern New Hampshire closed out the throwing events with a pair of top-20 showings, as Elder and Handy finished No. 14 and No. 18, respectively. Elder's throw of 10.66 meters put her at No. 14, while Handy's heave 10.19 meters slotted her at No. 18.
Freshman Kylie Lorenzen (Holliston, Mass.) headlined a pair of Penmen finishers in the 100-meter dash. Lorenzen put forth a time of 13.10 seconds to finish eighth, while classmate Maddie Holt (Seabrook, N.H.) cruised across the line in 14.61 seconds to check in at No. 37.
The SNHU 4x100-meter relay team joined sophomore Amber Herrington (Burlington Township, N.J.) in garnering top-10 recognition on Saturday. The Southern New Hampshire grouping of junior Skyler Shugrue (Worcester, Mass.), Lorenzen, senior Gitara King (Manchester, N.H.) and Holt matriculated the baton around the track in 51.17 seconds to finish sixth, while Herrington was able to complete the 400-meter hurdles in one minute, 16.34 seconds, which was good enough for No. 10.
The 200-meter dash saw two Penmen set new personal benchmarks. Shugrue put forth an effort of 28.39 seconds for a new personal best, while Holt's 30.35-second showing gave her a personal record as well.
Five additional PRs fell on Saturday in the 1500-meter and 5000-meter runs. Junior Laura O'Hanlon (Dedham, Mass.) led the way in the 1500-meter run with a new best of five minutes, 4.11 seconds to earn an eighth-place finish. Sophomore Kaitlin McCauley (Waltham, Mass.) was next in for Southern New Hampshire in 5:25.57 before classmate Maddie Bardier (Pembroke, N.H.) traversed the track in 5:52.90, both times set new personal records. Junior Devanee Ebert (Reading, Mass.) and freshman Rael Gallucci (Wilmington, Mass.) also took part in the 1500-meter run, and had official times of 6:15.99 and 6:55.10, respectively. The 5000-meter run saw freshman Ashley Dennis (Coventry, R.I.) and junior Felicia Dowling (Merrimack, N.H.) collect new bests with times of 20:35.17 and 20:43.10.
O'Hanlon was again the top finisher for Southern New Hampshire, this time in the 800-meter run, to headline a four-runner group. O'Hanlon put forth a time of two minutes, 34.49 seconds before McCauley generated a 2:48.34 finish. Ebert posted a time of 3:10.97, and Gallucci navigated the event in 3:11.05.
Holt grabbed the top spot for the Penmen in both the long jump and triple jump events. She launched a distance of 4.46 meters in the long jump to check in at No. 24 overall, and her 9.37-meter outing in the triple jump was good enough for No 23. Herrington landed at 4.10 meters in the long jump, which was just ahead of Bardier's 3.75-meter finish. Bardier rounded out the field events for SNHU with a 9.10-meter performance.
Notes:
- A total of 13 new personal records were set by Southern New Hampshire student-athletes on Saturday.
- Shugrue set a new best in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 18.09 seconds, while Lorenzen also posted a new PR in the 100 meter dash.
What's Next:
The Penmen are back in action on Saturday (April 16) when they head to the Fitchburg State Invite, hosted by Fitchburg State University, at 10 a.m.
