WALTHAM, Mass. - Juniors Fatima St. Hilaire (Danvers, Mass.) and Daniel LaFlamme (Watertown, Conn.) set new school records in the 55m dash and men's weight throw, respectively, and senior Kate Cowden (Wilmington, Mass.) qualified for New Englands in the shot put to highlight a strong showing for the Regis (Mass.) men's and women's track and field teams at the Reggie Poyau Memorial Invitational at Brandeis University on Saturday.
St. Hilaire placed fourth overall in the women's 55m dash on the day, setting the school record with a time of 7.64. The previous record was set last season, also at the Poyau Invitational, by St. Hilaire's teammate Bernice Boateng (Danielson, Conn.), who ran a 7.75. St. Hilaire also had a strong performance in the 600 meter dash on the day, finishing in third with a time of 2:01.50. Freshman Abby Flaherty (Millbury, Mass.) finished one spot better in the event, placing second at 1:52.46.
Cowden, with a PR of 11.89 meters, finished second in the women's shot put, an event that saw the Pride grab each of the top five spots. Sophomore ChiChi Akanegbu (North Easton, Mass.) won the event with a throw of 12.35 meters. Rounding out the top five were sophomore Elisabeth Cooke (East Longmeadow, Mass.; 11.30m), junior Liz Ksepka (Calais, Vt.; 10.82m) and junior Elliana Boebel (Bedford, Mass.; 10.36m). Akanegbu (second, 12.50m), Ksepka (third, 12.13m) and Cooke (sixth, 11.07m) also impressed in the women's weight throw.
On the men's side, LaFlamme's throw of 14.06 meters shattered the previous school record, a throw of 12.93 meters by teammate Taylor Garner at last season's Poyau Invitational. LaFlamme won the event, while junior Frank Pelleteri (Freeport, Maine) finished third with a throw of 11.54 meters and Garner fifth with a throw of 11.05 meters. LaFlamme also threw a PR in the shot put, finishing third overall with a throw of 12.95.
The Pride men's runners were led by junior Matthew Malone (West Roxbury, Mass.), who finished third in the 55 meter hurdles with a time of 8.52. Sophomore Jovan Sematimba (Burlington, Mass.) finished seventh in the 3,000 meter run, recording a time of 9:40.09. Kyle Gillen-Hughes (Reading, Mass.) won his heat in the event, edging out his competition by just .03 seconds.
Both the men's and women's teams will be back in action next Saturday at the Panther Invitational at Plymouth State University. The first events of the day get started at 10:00 a.m.
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