WESTON, Mass. (5/1/16) - The men's and women's track and field teams of Lasell College closed out the regular season at the Pride Invite on the campus of Regis College Sunday afternoon. The Lasers had their best performances and tallied a total of five new school records and nine personal bests on the day.
Starting the meet off was sophomore Josh Nixon (Bloomfield, Conn.) in the jumps. Nixon posted a 5.59 meter mark in long jump which was good for 5th overall, and came back strong in the triple jump where he posted a personal best mark of 11.63m, a new school record.
Kicking things off on the track was the 800 meter run where sophomores Nick Garifalos (Spotswood, N.J.) and Troy Gonsalves (Providence, R.I.) competed. Garifalos went on to win the meet with a time of 1:56.42 to set a new PR, as well as a Lasell College best. Garifalos' final time also qualifies for the Division III New England Championships, which will take place next weekend.
In the short sprints, freshman Ben Lane (Rutland, V.T.) joined Nixon and placed 7th and 16th overall, respectively. Lane then ran the 200m dash with fellow freshman Kyle Vonick (Weathersfield, Conn.), and placed 2nd overall with a personal best time of 23.16. Vonick followed closely and placed 6th overall, also good for a personal best of 23.74. Earlier in the day Vonick competed in the javelin where he placed 4th overall.
In the 5000 meter run senior Jeremy Shriber (Central Valley, N.Y.) took the track for one last time for an individual event. He ran a hard fought race where he found himself running alone for much of it. With his teammates cheering him on every step of the way Shriber unleashed an unimaginable kick in the final 200 meters of the race where he crossed the finish line in a time of 17:21.35. The final event of the day was the 4x400 relay, which featured Garifalos, Gonsalves, Nixon, and Vonick. The quartet ran a time of 3:41.26 which qualified as the final record on the men's side.
On the women's side the meet started up with freshman Hannah Meyers in the field events. Meyers threw a personal best in the discus with a throw of 30.06 meters, and later competed in the javelin where she threw another personal best of 31.79 meters. Kicking things off on the track was senior Jaime Russo (Watertown, Mass.) who competed in the 3,000 meter steeplechase and placed 2nd overall. Next up was the 400 meters which featured senior Melissa Cooley (Huntington Beach, Calif.). Cooley ran a personal best and new school record time of 60.04, and placed 2nd overall. In the 100m dash, junior Ayumi Rannuci (Auburn, Maine) ran a huge personal best time of 13.45 and placed 7th overall. The 800 meter run featured junior Nora McCabe (Cranston, R.I.) and sophomore Shannon Hart (Mashpee, Mass.), where both runners posted a strong competition and just missed out on their personal mark.
The last event for the women was the 200 meter dash which Cooley and Rannuci strongly competed in. Cooley came in third overall and ran a 26.97, which set a new outdoor best for the senior with a new college record as well. Ranucci followed closely placing 9th overall.
The Lasers that qualified for the Division III New England Championships will compete next weekend at Springfield College.