Meghan Zimbler
Photo Editor
Hosting a day-long meet this past Saturday, the men’s and women’s track and field teams welcomed their season back to Springfield College.
With teams such as Ramapo College, Stevens Institute, AIC and Westfield State visiting, the Pride showed their skills in the home track meet.
After a rough weekend at the Bowdoin Invitational, the women’s track and field team really stepped up their game, coming in second out of 11 teams while sweeping six of the events.
Some highlights of the meet included Amanda Martin and Gabby Gaudreault, who won two events each and set personal bests along the way. Martin, a junior, took first in both the long jump at 17-feet-5.5-inches and the triple jump at 37- feet-4.50 inches, boosting her ranking to fifth in the nation in the event.
Gaudreault, a senior, came into the meet strong, lowering her times in the 400 meter dash with a time of 58.44 to win the event, along with her 1000 meter run of 3:02.90.
“We are looking to see if we can finish in the top five,” said Jim Pennington, head women’s coach.
Another standout performance came from Samantha Pomroy, who won the 600 meter dash, with her best time of 1:40.55. Pomroy also ran the 4X800 meter relay alongside Abigail Wright, Elizabeth Beauregard and Stephanie Williams, winning the event with a time of 10:19.55.
“They did a really nice job of cheering each other on,” said Pennington. “They are a very close knit group and they’ve done a really nice job.”
On the men’s side, the Pride finished fifth out of 10 teams, with freshman Alex Niemiec winning two events, including the high jump and long jump. Niemiec out-jumped his competition by four inches, reaching 6-feet-8-inches.
Ryan O’Connell, the Pride’s only other winner of the day, took the 3000 meter run with a time of 8:48.65.
Captain Bill Ferguson qualified for NEWMACs after he completed his 6-foot-2-inch jump.
“The future looks good,” stated Ken Klatka, head men’s coach. “I love my team and I couldn’t ask for a better one.”