Track and Field Competes at AIC Invitational; Cooley Qualifies for New Englands

Springfield, Mass. (4/9/16) – The men's and women's track and field teams competed in the American International College Invitation Saturday afternoon in Springfield, Mass., which featured over 20 teams across NCAA Divisions II and III. 

The Lasers kicked off the meet at 10:00 a.m. with the field events, as sophomore Josh Nixon (Bloomfield, Conn.) competed in the long jump and placed 31st overall.  Nixon later competed in the triple jump where he posted a mark of 11.52 meters.  Next up was the 1500 meter run where sophomore Troy Gonsalves (Providence, R.I.) ran a 17 second personal best, and later joined sophomore Nick Garifalos (Spotswood, N.J.) and freshman Kyle Vonick (Weathersfield, Conn.) in the 800 meter dash.  Garifalos led the pack with an 8th place finish and a time of 1:58.12, while Vonick followed up with a 49th place finish.

 For the short sprints, freshman Ben Lane (Rutland, Vt.) ran the 100 and 200 meter dash, recording a personal best of 11.51 in the 100 and placed 45^th of 77 total runners.

Closing out the meet was one of the most anticipated races of the day where freshman Ryan Dalaba (North Granville, N.Y.) and senior Jermey Shriber (Central Valley, N.Y.) took on the 5000 meter run.  Dalaba and Shriber worked together for the entirety of the race and each finished with a personal best, of which both eclipsed the Lasell College record mark. Dalaba ran a 16:57.32 to claim the new school record and Shriber was right behind in 16:59.10, a 15 second personal best. 

On the women's side the meet began with the 3000 meter steeplechase where senior Jamie Russo (Watertown, Mass.) would go on to set a new school record time of 13:46.66.  Next up was the 400 meter dash which featured senior Melissa Cooley (Huntington Beach, Calif.) and sophomore Lauren Lenahan (Weymouth, Mass.).  Cooley went on to run 60.74 which was good for a new school record, and qualified her for the New England Division III Championships.

Following the 400 meters was the 800 meter race which featured junior Nora McCabe (Cranston, R.I.) and sophomore Shannon Hart (Mashpee, Mass.).  McCabe ran a five second personal best and Hart just missed out on her personal best by eight seconds.  In the short sprints junior Ayumi Ranucci (Auburn, Maine) ran a 13.98, a season best time.  The last event on the track for the women was the 200 meter dash where Cooley and Ranucci would come back and join freshman Emmy Guzman.  Cooley ran yet another school record time of 27.40, also good for an outdoor PR.  Ranucci would place 36th out of 73 and Guzman rounded out the group with a personal best time by .22 seconds.

The men's and women's track teams will be back at it next Saturday at Westfield State University in the Jerry Gravel Invitational.