The track and field team competed at the Penn Relays and Lehigh University’s Covert Classic this past weekend for two high-scoring outings.
The team sent two relay teams and one individual thrower to the University of Pennsylvania’s Franklin Field for the premier track event in the country. On the track, the men’s 4×400 relay team consisting of juniors Roman Conca and J.P. Pfisterer and sophomores Alexander Caba and Christian Wright placed first and earned fifth all-time at Lafayette College (3:14.87).
“Both relays ran extremely well,” head coach Michele Curcio said. “On the men’s side, we haven’t run a 3:14 in about 10 years. That says a lot for the guys since it was the first time they competed at this meet.”
The women’s 4×400 team of sophomore Gabby Buber, juniors Alexa LaSasso and Maeve Waldron and senior Nava Chevan earned a third-place finish (3:50.84).
“On the women’s side, they have all competed at Penn Relays and ran very well to run a 3:50,” Curcio said. “We decided to make a switch where we put Gabby Buber, who hasn’t been on the relay, actually ran the leadoff leg for us. Gabby showed that she can make us quick.”
On the field, senior thrower Erin O’Leary threw 176′ as a finalist in the hammer throw and placed ninth overall.
“For Erin to make the final, this is probably the first time all year where she’s had pressure to make a final,” Curcio said. “I think that sets her up very well for the Patriot Leagues.”
O’Leary added that while she thought she could have performed better, she is “feeling good heading to Patriots.”
The rest of the team held up the fort at the Covert Classic, clenching seven wins.
Multiple Leopards were victorious in the field. Junior Benjamin Hill reeled in first in the pole vault (5′ 5.75″), and sophomore Ivan Tejada captured victory in the hammer throw (169′ 11″). In the javelin, sophomore Marin Rosser earned herself the first-place finish (123′ 9″). In her second performance of the weekend, O’Leary threw 174′ 5″ in the hammer throw for the victory.
In the middle distance events, junior Quinn Worrell reeled in first place in the men’s 800-meter (1:52.58), and sophomore Ava Severino claimed the win in the 3000-meter steeplechase (11:19.77). On the sprint side, sophomore Dexter DeMarco took home the victory in the 400-meter hurdles (59.17).
“At Covert, we had a lot of best times,” Curcio said. “I think it’s flowing in the right direction to where we’re going to be. The biggest takeaway from the meet was that we came out, for the most part, healthy. A lot of people are starting to have pretty good performances at this point of the season.”
The Leopards will look to cap off their season with a statement this weekend, traveling to Holy Cross for the Patriot League Outdoor championships on Friday and Saturday.
“There’s a hierarchy in the Patriot League, and I would say Lafayette is in the middle pack here,” Curcio said. “You never know how it will shake up at Patriots. The big thing for us is to try to get as many people as we can into the finals and see how it is.”
“This is the best we’ve looked going into this championship season in a long time,” he added.