NEW YORK, N.Y. – A first-place finish and a near school record, plus a number of performances that rank among the Centennial Conference's best, made the Ursinus College track and field team's trek to the Armory for the New York University Invitational a thoroughly successful one.
The women's 4x400-meter relay squad of freshman Michela Coleman, junior Brittany Gasser, senior Jenna Kelly, and senior Catherine Buczek claimed first place with a sizzling 4:06.72, currently the top time in the CC by a wide margin. It was the best time in this event for the Bears since Gasser and Kelly made up half of a school-record 4:04.48 at Boston University during the 2015-16 indoor campaign.
Buczek moved to the top of the CC performance list with a blazing 1:00.63 in the 400, good for sixth overall and more than one second better than her former season benchmark.
Junior Caroline Buckley, who ranks second in the conference in the triple jump, improved her indoor best by an inch and a half to 33-10.75, placing her in seventh and moving within 1.25 inches of the league lead.
Michela Coleman shot up 11 spots all the way to second in the CC with a personal-best 26.93 in the 200-yard dash; she finished in sixth place and topped her previous low time by 1.01 seconds.
Freshman Kateryna Swan moved into a tie for fourth in the conference by clearing 4-11.0 on her second high jump attempt, tacking on more than three inches to her personal record. Fellow rookie Gianna Speranza was just short of her season best at 4-9.00.
Gasser bettered her top mark for the season in the 800 by 4.40 seconds, placing 10th overall in 2:25.28. Kelly posted a 2:28.33 to move inside the conference's top-15 times, and junior Riley Engel marked a new personal best with a time of 2:31.59 – more than a second faster than her previous record and over four seconds clear of her former indoor best.
Junior Morgan Cope cleared a season-high 9 feet in the pole vault, finishing ninth overall and moving to eighth on the CC performance list.
Freshman Gianna Speranza ran a collegiate-best 8.31 in the 60-meter dash, a personal best by .12 seconds and enough to qualify for the finals, where she finished eighth.
For the men, sophomore Codi Yhap easily won his heat in the 200-meter dash, crossing the line in 23.28 seconds to move into second in the CC with an indoor PR that fell .03 ticks off his overall record. Mitchell, meanwhile, lowered his season-best time to 23.68, good for fourth in the conference.
Senior Jamie Casseus easily outpaced his previous personal best in the 60-meter dash, cracking the 7.50-second barrier for the first time 7.43 in the prelims. Classmate Jequan Mitchell clocked a 7.36.
Senior Connor Lent also netted a massive PR in the 60-meter hurdles, finishing in 10.99 seconds to outdo his former best by nearly a full half-second. Lent was just off his season high with a 16-3.75 in the long jump.
Senior Mitchell Kelly's 54.51 in the 400 was easily a season best, and freshman Ian Steele crossed the line in 55.57 seconds in his debut in the event.
Sophomore Carlo Telesco recorded an indoor personal record in the shot put with a toss of 41-6.00 that placed him 14th overall and equaled his mark from last year's CC outdoor championship.
Five Bears competed in the mile, led by sophomore James McDaid in 4:34.12. Sophomores John Haase (4:40.96) and Logan Mazullo (4:47.10), junior Jonny Cope (4:48.35), and senior Thomas Lukens (5:02.91) also ran.