NEW HAVEN — In competition with Connecticut’s best, Quinnipiac women’s indoor track and field made certain to leave its mark at Saturday’s Yale Season opener.
The Bobcats — ranked No. 2 in the MAAC preseason coaches’ poll — claimed four first-place finishes and multiple top-five debuts in battle with Yale and Sacred Heart.
“You can’t really ask for much more than that,” head coach Carolyn Martin said.
Quinnipiac traveled to Cox Cage bright and early, returning to Hamden by sunset. But it was well worth the long hours to see many Bobcats at their best.
“Today was just to shake off the dust,” sophomore pole vaulter Erin Brennan said.
Capping off 14 weeks of cross country, Quinnipiac is using its first few meets as rustbusters. According to the indoor coaching staff, the Bobcats hit the ground running around January.
“(The team is) just trying to compete and be able to do the things we’re (the coaches) asking them to do,” assistant coach Joe Van Gilder said. “We’re trying to see where people are.”
Freshman Shaelyn Murphy catapulted to first place in the high jump, clearing a personal best 1.65m to kick off the meet. “(There’s) lots of potential in (Murphy),” assistant coach Brendan Wilkins said.
Sophomore sprinter and jumper Olaitan Olagundoye tied Murphy’s mark and earned a season best while senior jumper Grace Davis came in fifth.
Additionally, sophomore jumper Sydney Lavelle earned fourth place in the long jump with a 5.31m jump.
Brennan produced an impressive come-from-behind pole vaulting performance to secure first place and matched the school record at 3.50 meters.
“Over the summer when you’re not competing, you’re constantly missing it,” she said. “I’m just glad to be back in the environment of competition.”
“She didn’t do that until the end of the year,” Van Gilder said about Brennan’s progress.
Freshman pole vaulter Olivia DeBellis ended the competition in a four-way tie for second place at 3.35m.
In the shot put, senior Camille Blain threw a 10.14 meters to solidify fifth place.
On the track, junior sprinter Rylie Smith clocked in a personal best and first place time of 39.83 seconds in the 300m. Sophomore sprinter Isabella Anzaldo secured fifth place in 41.58.
Quinnipiac continued to capitalize as sophomore hurdler Sydney Lavelle took third in the 60m hurdles with a season best 9.30. Sophomore sprinter Nyasia Dailey swept the 60m dash and hit a PR of 7.62.
Fresh off a demanding cross country season, senior Jada Dennis took her fall momentum indoors and placed fifth in the 500m with a PR of 1:21.33.
To close out the meet, Quinnipiac’s 4x400m relay team of Lavelle, Anzaldo, sophomore sprinter Elise Barricelli and Smith took third with a time of 4:00.16.
“We’re just trying to train and get a lot of work in,” Van Gilder said. “We are moving up the ladder.”
The Bobcats appear next in the UMass Amherst Winter Opener on Jan. 14.
