NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – Officially competing as a team for the first time since the inaugural GNAC Indoor Track and Field Championships Feb. 16, 2020, the Regis College track and field team opened the 2021-22 indoor season at the Smith Winter Classic, held Saturday at the Smith College Indoor Track and Tennis Center.
Mikayla Francois (Walpole, Mass.) earned the highest placement in an individual event for the Pride, finishing third in the finals of the 60 meter hurdles in 10.25 seconds after qualifying with a preliminary time of 10.42 seconds. Francois also cleared 1.35 meters (4' 5") to finish fifth in the high jump and led off the 4x200 meter relay, joining Juleen Guirand, Jahdee Lamarre (Brockton, Mass.), and Alayja Linton (Nashua, N.H.) for a third place finish with an overall time of 2:06.30.
Matt Ferrara (Haverhill, Mass.) finished fourth in the high jump after clearing 1.78 meters (5' 10"), plus he ended up seventh in the long jump with a top leap of 6.02 meters (19' 9"). Declan Harkins (Plymouth, Mass.) qualified for the 60 meter hurdles on the men's side with a preliminary time of 9.53 seconds, and then he finished seventh in the finals with a mark of 9.39 seconds.
Harkins also competed in both relays for the Pride men, first joining with Nicholas Pastore (Norwood, Mass.), Bryan De Souza (Everett, Mass.), and Mitchell Weiner (Plano, Texas) in the 4x200 meter relay for a fifth-place time of 1:44.17. He then teamed with Brett Kiesel (Rocky Hill, Conn.), Chris Margiatto (Suffield, Conn.), and Ben O'Neal (New Britain, Conn.) to finish sixth in the 4x400 meter relay with a total time of 3:47.23.
Aiden Charles (Lowell, Mass.) came close to qualifying for the 60 meter hurdles finals, finishing ninth in the preliminaries in 10.30 seconds, plus he ended up 10th overall in the 200 meter dash with a time of 25.50 seconds. Pastore was ninth in the 60 meter dash preliminaries with a time of 7.39 seconds, and AJ Corso (Broad Brook, Conn.) finished eighth in the 800 meter run in 2:11.32.
Besides her relay participation, Guirand also finished 10th in the 400 meter run with a time of 1:09.67. Hannah Plamondon (Woonsocket, R.I.) finished eighth in the triple jump with a top mark of 9.07 meters (29' 9.25"), and Francesca Seac used her first attempt for a 10th place finish in the long jump at 4.20 meters (13' 9.5").
Regis College will enter the bulk of the indoor season after the start of the new year, beginning with the Art Farnham Invitational hosted by MIT Saturday, Jan. 8.