Julian Santiago
Staff Writer
The indoor track and field season opened up this past weekend for Springfield’s men’s and women’s teams. The Pride competed in a four-school meet and each Springfield College team was able to take first place over WPI, Westfield State and Rhode Island College.
The meet, which was held in Springfield’s Field House, was a huge success for both teams.
The women’s team, led by standout senior Gabby Gaudreault, dominated by scoring 176 points, which was more than enough to top the competition.
“It was a very good start for the team,” said Coach James Pennington. “[But] we need to improve.”
There were certainly some real positives for the team to build on. Gaudreault, who won both the 400 and 1000 meter races, also was able to qualify for the regional championships.
Gaudreault was not the only woman to earn such honors, either. Amanda Martin, Erin Womboldt and Samantha Pomroy qualified in the triple jump, long jump and 600 meters, respectively. The team’s 4×200 meter relay team of Gaudreault, Darian Dailey, Katie Saia and Liz Saia also qualified for both the New England Division III and ECAC championships.
With the next meet not taking place until January 18 against Bowdoin College, the team has plenty of time to improve.
The past weekend served as a good opportunity for the freshmen to gain experience, and they all did well according to Pennington.
Springfield’s men’s team shared similar success to the women, winning their meet with many great performances.
Several first-place finishes were won on Saturday, including an impressive win in the weight throw by senior John Dayton.
Freshman Alex Niemiec showed no signs of being nervous in his first shot at collegiate competition, as he placed first in both the 60 meter dash and the long jump. Of course, with just one meet under their belt, the team is not satisfied, and like the women, is looking only to improve after this weekend.
The young members of the teams showed great poise in the season’s first competition and the veterans displayed great leadership. When the teams travel to Bowdoin next month, more success can be expected.
Graduate student Ryan O’Connell took first place in two events. The first of the day included the mile, in which the product out of Middleboro, Mass. finished in 4:25.49. O’Connell won his second event of the day when he ran a 2:41.81 in the 1000-meter race.
Andrew Arrone, a sophomore from Wethersfield, Conn. finished first in the pole vault when he jumped an outstanding 13-feet-and-1.5-inches.