WESTON, Mass.-After a short Easter weekend hiatus, the Regis College outdoor track & field team returned to Dedham, Massachusetts to compete in the Solomon Husky Invitational. Feeling fresh as they enter into the peak of their season, the warm temperatures and great competitions yielded a number of inspiring performances.
For the second time this outdoor season, freshman thrower Paul Gionfriddo (Burlington, Conn.) set not only the outdoor record for the shot put, but shattered the school record for both indoor and outdoor. His toss of 12.34-meters (40’ 6”) brought him past the 40-foot barrier for the 16lbs-implement and has him now looking at the (41’) mark before the season is done.
The rookie would return shortly thereafter to join in his teammates in the squad’s first 4x100-meter relay attempt of the year. Gionfriddo joined by Chandler Davies (Hartford, Conn.), Jeremy Israel (Boston, Mass.), and Ryan Manning (Hanover, Mass.), the foursome executed solid handoffs and strong relay legs for a final time of 45.43s, placing them 4th (out of 8 teams) in the meet, and qualifying them for the Division III Outdoor
Davies, Israel, and Manning would also do well in their individual events. Davies lowered his 100-meter time to 11.67s, just one tenth shy of the school record, and would also compete in the 200-meter dash setting a new personal best of 23.47s. Israel would win his heat in the 400-meter dash, notching a time of 51.36s, which was good enough to win his heat. Israel just missed his own outdoor school record of 51.24s that he set two weeks ago.
Manning would join him in the quarter-mile, bettering his personal best with a 52.38s run. The weather continued to help the rest of the sprint squad as Carlos Romer (Boston, Mass.) improved on his all-time 400-meter best time, and junior co-captain Anyah Hernandez (Brookline, Mass.) dropped her 100-time to 14.21s from her first meet.
The Pride will next compete at the MIT CO-ED Invitational this Saturday.
www.coolrunning.com/results/12/ma/Jan14_TuftsI_set1.shtml