On Jan. 29-30, the Black Bears traveled to Boston University to compete in the Thomas Terrier Classic, an invitational meet that took place over two days and featured over 20 teams. It was not a traditional meet, and points for each team were not collected or noted. Rather, it served as a valuable exhibition meet to ready the athletes for larger, competitive meets that will occur later on in the season.
The women’s field events competed first on Friday, and almost immediately fourth-year Jaclyn Masters reestablished herself as one of the most dominant pole vaulters in New England. She tied Ithaca’s third-year Katherine Pitman to ascend to the lofty height of 3.9 meters.
The strong showing in the field events didn’t end there. In the long jump, second-year Ariel Clachar finished in seventh place overall, leaping 5.48 meters.
Second-year Rachel Bergeron threw 15.11 meters in the weighted throw, which landed her at 16th place of all women at the meet.
The men began their performances late on Friday, but the bulk of their competition was on Saturday. In the field events, fourth-year Julian Hubbard took fiftieth place with a jump of 6.11 meters. In the triple jump, Hubbard continued to make waves by finishing 19th at 13.63 meters.
Two Maine participants were finalists in the high jump, third-year Asaad Hicks and fourth-year Tyler Martin. Hicks tied for second place with Central Connecticut’s first-year Amaziah Gadson, both men jumping a height of 2 meters. Martin tied for 11th place along with nine other athletes, reaching the height of 1.9 meters.
For running events, fourth-year Jake Leithiser took 18th place in the 400-meter dash by clocking in at 48.53 seconds.
Maine competes with UNH and Vermont
In their second meet of the weekend, the University of Maine went toe-to-toe against local rivals New Hampshire and Vermont. It was a tough meet against stiff competition, but both the men and women gave it their all and demonstrated their tenacity and talent, and their will to win.
In the 55-meter dash, the women began the day strong with two runners in the final six. Fourth-year Katelyn Guilmette finished third at 7.58 seconds. First-year Lauren Magnuson finished sixth with a final time of 7.70 seconds.
In the 200-meter dash, Maine secured the top three places. Second-year Grace Macura finishing first in 27.06 seconds, and Magnuson placing second with 27.11 seconds. Second-year Alexis Dietrich finished in 27.15 seconds to take third place before New Hampshire’s fourth-year Molly Clark finished in fourth.
Second-year Kaitlin Saulter completed the 500-meter run in 1:18.31 to take first place overall.
Fourth-year Annabelle Wilson ran the 3,000-meter in 10:42.59, a full four seconds before New Hampshire’s second-year Julia Shorter crossed the finish line, guaranteeing Maine first place in the event.
Third-year Grace MacLean won the 55-meter hurdles event in 8.58 seconds. Maclean also participated in the long jump in which she finished second place after jumping 5.06 meters.
Maine won both the 4×400 and the 4×800-meter relay, finishing the 4×400 in 4:11.9, and completing the 4×800 in 9:34.37.
For the throwing events, third-year Ashley Donohoe had a fantastic day. She finished first in the women’s shot put with a distance of 13.36 meters, which was almost two meters ahead of the second place entrant. For the weight throw, Donohoe came in third, throwing 14.78 meters.
The men started the day with two runners placing in the finals of the 55-meter dash. Third-year Ryan Jamison came in third at 6.85 seconds, and second-year Garrett Johnson finished in 6.94 seconds which earned him fifth place.
Fourth-year Michael Lucas finished second in the 400-meter dash, completing the course in 52.25 seconds.
Third-year Jacob Johns ran the mile in 4:13.51 to earn first for Maine. Also in the event were fourth-year Derrek Schultz, who finished in seventh place with a final time of 4:27.24, and second-year Elijah Fossas, who finished in eighth with a time of 4:38.14.
Maine put in a strong team performance in the 3,000-meter event as well. Third-year Justin Tracy, third-year Lucas Bourget and second-year Joshua Horne finished second through fourth. Their times were 8:46.94, 8:50.08 and 8:52.73 respectively.
In the long jump, first-year Dylan Smith placed third overall as he leapt 6.1 meters. Fellow Black Bear, second-year Steven Longfellow, jumped 6.03 meters and landed in fourth spot. Longfellow also took second in the triple jump, going 12.83 meters.
Second-year Jeremy Frantz threw for the men’s shot put and managed to throw 14.43 meters, which earned him third place.
Holy Cross will come to Orono next weekend for a home meet against the Black Bears.
