The track and field team kicked off its spring season by sending its throwers to compete in eight events at the Towson Spring Opener on Saturday.
The Leopards by and large placed high. On the men’s side, senior thrower Andrew Bowsher clinched first place in the hammer throw, taking the fourth spot in Lafayette’s all-time record book with 189 ’10”. Freshmen throwers Jared Googel, Ivan Tejada and Jack Paradis respectively finished fifth, seventh and ninth out of 14 in the hammer throw. Sophomore thrower Bobby McCloskey took second place out of 18 in the men’s javelin, throwing 174′ 04″, while sophomore thrower Ahren Stauffer finished sixth.
For the women, senior thrower Liz Desmet placed fourth out of 19 in the hammer throw with a 147’04” hurl. Sophomore thrower Zoe Krumwiede finished in 11th place with a throw of 122’09”, while freshman thrower Cheyla Williams placed in 15th. Freshmen throwers Marin Rosser and Maddie Still earned third and fourth place finishes out of 18 with 119′ 10″ and 115′ 00″, respectively.
“I started off with a big throw and was fortunate enough to follow that with an even better second throw, where I ended up beating my personal best,” Bowsher said. “And for everyone else across the board, I think it was really good. It was our opening meet, so it can get a bit overwhelming, especially for the freshmen, since it was their first time ever competing in the hammer, let alone competing outdoors for Lafayette.”
“We’ve really just been training since the end of the year last year,” added junior thrower Rylee Bordwick, who placed seventh in women’s javelin with a 105′ 08” throw. “So it’s hard work, but we’re excited to be here now and be outside and get to compete. You know, we’ve been waiting a long time to do that.”
In the men’s discus throw, freshman thrower Niko Williams locked in fifth place in a field of 23, while Bowsher placed in sixth. Paradis took the 17th spot.
In the women’s discus throw, Desmet sealed fourth place out of 26 with a 116′ 02″ mark. Cheyla Williams and Krumwiede finished the event in 13th and 20th, respectively.
In the women’s shot put, Williams and Bordwick placed 12th and 15th out of 20, respectively.
Meanwhile, in the men’s shot put, sophomore thrower Liam Downey, Tejada and Niko Williams took fifth, seventh and eighth, respectively, out of 25 competitors.
“I would say overall, the whole team had a pretty good season opener,” Bordwick said. “We have a pretty young team right now, but the freshmen have a lot of talent, so I’m really excited to see what they do this year, but our upperclassmen also had a great meet.”
The Leopards will carry on with the outdoor season this weekend at the two-day Maryland Invitational.
