The University of Maine men and women’s track teams competed at the Wildcat Invitational on Saturday. The men finished in third place while the women took second.
Fourth-year Mozai Nelson took home first place in the 100-meter dash (11.03 seconds) and the 200-meter dash (22.27 seconds), as well as serving as the leading leg of the 4-x-100 relay team that took first place. Fourth-years Benjamin Davis, Elijah Yeboah and Isaac Yeboah were also on that team. Nelson and the Yeboah brothers would team up with second second-year Branden Kuusela to finish third in the 4-x-400 relay. Elijah Yeboah would pick up Maine’s other first place finish in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 55.79 seconds.
First-year Elijah White won the long jump (6.85 meters) and the triple jump (14.25 meters ). His triple jump distance of 14.25 meters is the eighth longest in UMaine history. It was a one-two finish in the long jump when third-year Dylan Smith registered a 6.39-meter jump to take second place.
The Black Bears collected five other second place finishes: Kuusela in the 400-meter hurdles (57.36 seconds), second-year Troy Davis in the high jump (1.95 meters), fourth-year Alecsander Wortman in the pole vault (4.40 meters), fourth-year Adam Lufkin in the discus (46.77 meters) and first-year Isaiah Allen in the javelin (50.35 meters). These finishes netted the Black Bears 35 more points as a team.
Maine finished with 158.5 points on the day for third place. New Hampshire won the meet with 184 points, while Bates College took home second with 165.5 points. The University of Southern Maine rounded things off with 121 points.
On the women’s side, third-year Lauren Magnuson and second-year Elisabeth Redwood each took home first-place events. Magnuson set an outdoor personal best in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.13 seconds, while Redwood took the 400-meter run in 1:00.29. First-year Catherine Christiansen finished in second place behind Redwood with 1:01.60. Other top finishes include second-year Brittany Torchia and redshirt second-year Abigail Weigang taking second and third respectively in the 400-meter hurdles, fourth-year Kaitlin Saulter taking third in the 1,500-meter run, a second place finish in the 4-x-100 relay and a third place finish in the 4-x-400 relay.
First-years Alice Barnsdale and Allison Fayard finished one-two in the hammer throw, with Barnsdale’s throw reaching 54.93, qualifying her for the Eastern College Athletic Conference meet at the end of the season for the second time. First-year Anna Schumann also impressed with a 10.72-meter performance to take first place in the triple jump.
Other key finishes for the Black Bears included a second place finish in the pole vault by third-year Taylor Lenentine, who measured at 3.27 meters. Third-year Ariel Clachar finished second in the long jump with 5.38 meters. The Black Bears would take fourth through sixth in the javelin, thanks to third-year Kayla Greenwalt (34.45), second-year Arianna Levenson (33.68) and fourth-year Brianna DeGone (33.15). First-year Sarah Vanacore finished the scoring for Maine with a third place finish in the shot put with a throw of 33.39 meters.
The Black Bears finished the meet with 166 points to beat our Bates by 9 points for a second place finish. New Hampshire would win the meet with 212 points, while Bates College would round things out with 157 points for a third place finish.
The Black Bears will be back in action on April 18-19 for the Holy Cross Multis down in Worcester, Massachusetts. They will return to Worcester on Saturday, April 21 for the Holy Cross Invitational.
