By Emily McCarthy, News Staff
The Northeastern men’s and women’s track teams kicked off the outdoor season last weekend at the North Carolina State University-hosted Raleigh Relays and the University of North Florida Spring Break Invitational.
Nine Huskies notched top-10 finishes, five earned personal bests and four qualified for the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) and Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America (IC4A) meets. Twenty athletes qualified for the New England championships.
The majority of the team competed at the Raleigh Relays. Senior Kaylin Miranda led the way for the Huskies in the field with a personal best leap of 7.42 meters in the long jump. Miranda came in second place overall and qualified for the New England championships and the IC4A meet.
“This past weekend was amazing, I jumped the farthest of my career and put myself in position to go to NCAA regionals,” Miranda said in an email to The News. “It was very special given that I hadn’t [set a personal record] in two years before that jump. It also felt good to perform well at such a high level meet.”
Freshman Adam Thomas came in third in the pole vault with a New England qualifying mark of 4.60 meters. Sophomore Nicholas Tyler finished 11th at 4.30 meters.
On the women’s side, sophomore Jacilyn Briggs finished seventh in the pole vault with a mark of 3.65 meters.
Senior Georgia Pingue took 13th in the triple jump with a New England qualifying mark of 11.90 meters.
The Huskies also excelled on the track. Junior Zachary Fraielli finished third and qualified for the New England championships in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a personal best time of 9:33.81.
In the 400-meter dash, sophomore Donovan Henry recorded a new personal best of 49.03 seconds.
“I felt good,” Henry said in an email to The News. “It was our first time running on an outdoor track this season, so I really wanted to execute my race the best I could and I believe I did that. Now it’s just about getting stronger and faster as the season goes on.”
Freshman Jordan O’Dea completed the 10,000-meter run in a New England and ECAC qualifying 36:27.32. She also knocked down the previous Northeastern record of 36:35.57.
“I felt pretty good about my performance in the 10,000 for it being my first time ever running it,” O’Dea said in an email to tThe News. “I think that I can definitely run faster with better conditions and more training but for my first 10,000 race I was very excited that I had broken the school record.”
Just four athletes competed in the University of North Florida Spring Break Invitational.
Seniors Max Milder and Julia Westover competed in the weight throw. Sophomore Nicole Genard finished second in the javelin with a New England and ECAC qualifying toss of 41.90 meters.
Senior Kevin Rosenberg took third in the shot put and also qualified for the New England championships with a mark of 15.68 meters.
The Huskies will be back in action this weekend at the Stanford Invitational hosted by Stanford University. Northeastern will also head to the University of New Hampshire Saturday for a tri-meet with UNH, the College of the Holy Cross and the University of Maine.
