Black & Gold Invitational

Friday Throws

Deb Thayer competing in the hammer throw (picture from April 2022)

On Friday, the Mammoths sent Deb Thayer, Beth Martin and Jack Renda to compete in the shot put and hammer throw in the first day of competition. Deb enjoyed a fantastic day, setting a three meter personal best in the hammer with a throw of 37.18 meters (122' 0")! Beth also threw well, throwing a mark of 38.47 meters (126' 2")! Jack threw 33.40 meters (109' 7") to round out the Mammoth competition in the hammer throw. In the shot put, Beth and Deb threw marks of 9.54 meters (31' 3.75") and 8.79 meters (28' 10.25"), respectively. 

3,000 Meter Steeplechase

Mary Kate McGranahan jumping over the water barrier in the steeplechase

With rain in the forecast for Saturday, the meet was moved to Sunday and the 3k steeplechase was the first running event of the day. The Mammoths kicked it off on a big note as Mary Kate McGranahan won in a personal best time of 11:01, improving upon her prior personal best in the event by 11 seconds! Wit her time, Mary Kate is now #5 All-Time at Amherst in the steeplechase! Ona Ortiz-Gudeman enjoyed a fabulous debut in the steeple, racing with patience in the first half and tenacity in the second half to move into third place and run a great time of 11:32 to place third! Claire Callon ran a great season debut, competing hard the whole way through to place fourth in a time of 11:44! Paolo Canigiula competed well in his steeplechase debut, placing ninth in a time of 10:58.

1500 Meters

The 1500 meters was the next track event that the Mammoths competed in and a herd of Mammoths competed well in the event. Running in the second heat, Julia Schor used a strong third lap and strong kick in the final lap to place a close second in her heat in a time of 4:44, which placed her fifth overall! In the same heat, Allison Lounsbury and Daphne Theiler sensed the fast opening pace and wisely moved up the field throughout the race. Allison kicked hard in the final lap to place fourth in the heat in a personal best time of 4:48, placing her twelfth overall in a personal best time! Daphne also ran well, placing thirteenth in the heat in a strong time of 4:56! In the third heat, Ally Deegan employed well timed moves on the third and final laps to place fifth in her heat in a time of 4:55! Margo Pedersen competed in the 1500 for the first time and running in the fourth heat, she used a fantastic final lap to run a great time of 4:55!

Henry Dennen and George Cahill both competed in the second heat of the 1500 and with the race going out at a slow pace, Henry took the lead one lap into the race. He pushed hard the whole way and placed a tight third in his heat in a personal best time of 3:58 to place ninth overall! George stuck his nose in the field and placed eighth in the heat in a time of 4:01! Running in the third heat, Keon Mazdisnian positioned himself at the front of the field and placed third in a time of 4:07! Running in the same heat, Aydin Williams and Theo Dassin ran times of 4:10 and 4:11 in a tight battle through the finish line. Oliver Spiva took the lead from the gun in the fourth heat, leading the race wire to wire to win in a time of 4:10! Thomas Stephens competed well in the same heat, running a time of 4:17.

Javelin

Carolina Andrade throwing the javelin (picture from April 2022)

The first field event of the day was the women’s javelin, and Carolina Andrade and Morgan Rome both threw super well! Carolina placed tenth with a throw of 37.06 meters (121' 7"), her best throw in two years! Morgan threw the javelin for the first time as a Mammoth and had a great debut, throwing a mark of 36.81 meters (120' 9") to place eleventh! Anaya Thomas competed in the javelin for the first time, throwing a solid mark of 23.06 meters (75' 8") in her debut! Beth Martin had a great day and was just below her personal best with a throw of 23.49 meters (77' 1")! Annelise Romero and Payton Sorensen both threw well, throwing marks of 26.72 meters (87' 8") and 18.60 meters (61' 0"), respectively. Kevin Ryu had a solid day in the javelin, throwing 41.19 meters (135' 2").

Discus

In the discus, David Brown had a great opening throw, throwing a mark of 42.64 meters (139' 11")! Jack Trent had a great day, setting personal bests on his first two throws, ending the day with a new personal best of 36.63 meters (120' 2")! Hugh Lemmon-Kishi and Jack Renda both threw well, throwing marks of 30.84 meters (101' 2") and 30.30 meters (99' 5"), respectively. Deb Thayer and Beth Martin both threw well, placing 29th and 30th with throws of 31.14 meters (102' 2") 31.04 meters (101' 10"), respectively, in a great day for the two of them!

Mia Bawendi racing the 100 meter dash

100 & 110 Meter Hurdles

The next event on the track was the 100 hurdles and Trintje Nydam and Anaya Thomas both competed in the same heat. Trintje placed third in the heat in a near personal best time of 16.35 seconds and Anaya ran a bold race, placing fourth in a time of 16.40 seconds! In his first time competing over the collegiate hurdle height in the 110 hurdles, Noah Harris ran a strong race, placing second in his heat and eighth overall in a strong time of 15.60 seconds!

400 Meters

In the 400, Piper Lentz and Mads Rabb raced in the same heat and competed well, as Piper placed fifth in the heat in a strong season opening time of 1:01.21 and Mads was right behind her in seventh place in a time of 1:01.57! Halle Hanna raced in the following heat and placed fourth in a time of 1:02.80 and Caroline Wu raced in the next heat, coming across the finish line in fifth place in her heat in a time of 1:04.14. Jai Dreher won his heat by more than two seconds and placed twelfth overall in a time of 52.03 seconds!

100 Meters

Video of Jordan's record tying run

Jordan Harrison made major noise in his first 100 race as a Mammoth, tying the school record with his time of 10.79 seconds, which placed him second in the whole field! Cody Pierce ran in the same heat as Jordan and enjoyed a great race in the 100 as well, running a personal best time of 11.02 seconds to place sixth! Alex Nichols placed fourth in his heat in a great season opening time of 11.14 seconds! Ben Bell won his heat in a collegiate best time of 11.25 seconds! Ben Williams competed well in his heat placing fourth in his heat in a time of 11.92 seconds! Mia Bawendi kicked off her exciting day in the 100, placing second in her heat in a time of 13.07 seconds!

Cam Heafitz high jumping

Pole Vault

Mia Bawendi had a great day in the pole vault, clearing every single bar en route to clearing the height of 3.40 meters (11’ 1.75”), tying her own school record! Mia also took great attempts at 3.55 meters, an exciting way to kick off the outdoor season along with winning her flight and placing fifth overall!

High Jump

The high jumpers competed in windy conditions and Gabe dos Santos placed fifth by way of clearing 1.85 meters (6' 0.75")! Cam Heafitz cleared the same height and placed eighth on misses and Alex Robin placed twelfth by clearing 1.80 meters (5' 10.75") for a solid day. Anaya Thomas placed eleventh by clearing 1.47 meters (4' 9.75").

Long Jump

Adrian Friedman won the long jump on his first jump, jumping 6.39 meters (20' 11.75")

Triple Jump

In the triple jump, Gabe dos Santos placed third with a jump of 12.56 meters (41' 2.5") and Adrian Friedman placed seventh with a jump of 12.08 meters (39' 7.75"). 

Lev Robertson en route to winning his heat of the 800

800 Meters

In the Men’s 800, Kolya Markov-Riss and Wilson Spurrell both competed in the first heat, which was a very deep and competitive race. Racing in windy conditions, the two men from Rhode Island raced with pride racing in their home state. Kolya positioned himself towards the front of the field and made a move for the lead after the bell rang to signify the final lap of the race and ran hard down the final 100 meter stretch of the race, placing third in a time of 1:54! Wilson made a big move on the second lap and made up ground in the final 200 meters of the race, placing fourth in a time of 1:55! In the second heat, Ben Davis sat in second place during the first lap and made a push for the lead with 300 to go, competing with the men around him. Will Nagy made a big push in the second lap and caught up to the race leaders with 100 meters to go, swinging into lane 3 with 100 meters to go to place second in the heat in a time of 1:56! Ben ran hard through the finish line, placing fourth in the heat in a time of 1:57!

Braedon Fiume and Nick Edwards-Levin raced in the third heat of the 800 and they sat in third and fourth place, respectively, through the first 300 meters of the race. As the bell rang for the final lap, Nick took the lead and pushed the pace, bringing Braedon with him. The two continued to push hard to win the heat as the finish line approached and with 100 to go, Braedon used his experience to his advantage to get out of a crowd of men in front of him as he swung into lane three to win the heat in a personal best time of 1:56! Nick was right behind him, running hard through the finish line to place second in a time of 1:56! Lev Robertson and Alex Rich toed the line in the next heat and they let their competitors do the work in the first lap before Lev took the lead with 250 meters to go and he ran away with the heat win, powering away to win in a huge personal best time of 1:58! Alex fought hard to the finish line, running a time of 2:04. Charlie Clary raced in the fifth heat and worked his way into the lead throughout the first lap and took the lead with a lap to, putting distance on his competitors with every step as he won his heat in a time of 2:02!

400 Meter Hurdles

The 400 Hurdles is an event that is only contested during the outdoor season and the 400 Hurdles squad has been eagerly awaiting to compete in the event all year! Myeh Medina led the Mammoths in the Women’s 400 Hurdles, running a beautiful race over all ten hurdles to win her heat in a personal best time of 1:06.01! Trintje Nydam ran hard during the whole race and placed eighth overall in a time of 1:09, and Artis Phillips and Valerie Finke competed well in their first 400 hurdle race of the year to cross the finish line in times of 1:11 and 1:12, respectively. Tom Ye led the Mammoths in the 400 Hurdles, opening his season with a strong race in a great season opening time of 58.24 seconds! Max Spelke competed well and placed fourth in his heat in a time of 1:01.31.

Luke Munch racing the 5k

200 Meters

Arissa McGowan raced the 200 for the first time in several years and ran well, running a time of 28.03 seconds. Theo Woodward enjoyed running a collegiate best time of 23.73 seconds! Matt Gelin ran a solid race, placing fifth in his heat in a time of 23.85 seconds.

5,000 Meters

Nora Bannon ran a smart race in the 5k, gradually passing runners throughout the race as she picked up her pace and her competitors slowed down. Nora placed tenth in a personal best time of 18:53! The men’s 5k was a super exciting race where Luke Munch and Daniel Martin competed in a large and deep field. Both settled into packs, with Luke leading his pack going after the second place runner and Daniel sitting on other runners doing the work. Luke ran a fantastic speedy final mile to place fifth in a huge personal best time of 15:16! Daniel ran strong and placed fifteenth, also setting a personal best in a time of 15:45!

Cody Pierce running the 4x400 relay

4x400 Meter Relays

The last event of the day was the 4x400 relay and the Mammoths closed out the meet on a high note! Mads Rabb led off the Women's 4x400 relay and got the team out to a great start! She handed the baton to Piper Lentz, who ran a strong leg and handed off to Margo Pedersen. Margo competed hard for the whole lap and gave the baton to Julia Schor, who anchored the relay across the line in seventh place in a time of 4:08!

Ben Davis led off for the Mammoths 'A' team, getting out to a great start. Cody Pierce ran the second leg and ran a fantastic leg, separating himself and the team from the chase pack and solidly in second place. Braedon Fiume ran a great third leg, holding the Mammoths position. He handed the baton to Kolya Markov-Riss, who fought hard in a great battle for second place, ultimately placing third in a time of 3:23, a great time to start the season!

The 'B' team was led off by Max Spelke, returning to the track after running the 400 Hurdles. He handed off to Charlie Spurrell, who ran a strong second leg. Jack Trent ran the third leg after competing in the discus earlier in the day, and ran a great leg to hand off to Lev Robertson, who anchored the relay across the finish line in a time of 3:35.