Men's, women's track compete during Valentine's weekend

02/19/09 - The University of Rhode Island men and women's track and field teams competed in their final tune-ups before the Atlantic 10 Championships.The men's team traveled to the Armory Track and Field Center, for the second consecutive week, competing in the 2009 Armory Winter Games.

"We had a really great meet," men's assistant coach Kyle Poland said. "It was our first meet that we really came together. It serves as a great confidence booster before A-10s."

The meet featured talent from schools across the country, such as the University of Connecticut, Duke University and the University of Delaware.

"The competition wasn't as tough as it was at the New Balance Invitational," Poland said. "We still performed well against some good track schools."

Senior Alex Reid participated in the 60-meter hurtles, finishing fifth in a time of 8.29 seconds

Sophomore David Kennedy finished second in the 400-meter dash with a season-best time of 48.81. The time qualified him for Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America Championships.

With his performance, Kennedy shared Co-Atlantic 10 Player of the Week honors with University of Massachusetts senior Pete Fortunato.

"David Kennedy has really been running great for us all season," Poland said.

Sophomore Nick Sanborn and freshman Justin Ellison each posted seventh place finishes in the 500-meter run and 1,000-meter run, respectively. Sanborn finished with a time of 1:04.98, while Ellison clocked a time of 2:31.13.

"[Sanborn] ran one of his best races," Poland said. "He really gave us a boost in the middle distance area."

In the field, senior John Carstensen led the way for the Rams, finishing in second place in the pole vault with a performance of 4.95 meters.

Sophomore Jacob Keeling finished fourth in the weight throw with a toss of 16.54 meters.

"We graduated a lot of guys from our team last year," Poland said. "So we need these new guys to step it up this weekend. We've been tapering our workouts toward this meet [A-10s], and I think we are ready."

The women's team competed at the 2009 Boston University Valentine Invitational on Saturday in a non-scoring meet.

"It was a great meet all around," sophomore Brittany Pelsue said.

Junior jumper Ananda Fraser led the way for the team with her two top 10 finishes in the field. Fraser finished third in the triple jump with a leap of 12.17 meters. In the long jump, she leapt 5.34 meters to finish in eighth place

"We are gaining confidence as a team," Pelsue said. "We know we have the potential to compete strongly."

Fraser's triple jump showing qualified her for the Eastern College Athletic Conference championships, and also landed her in the URI record books with the best triple jump performance by a junior.

In the pole vault, junior Stephanie Gregory finished ninth with a season-best performance of 3.35 meters.

Sophomore Crystal Bourque finished 15th in the weight throw and 17th in the shot put with respective distances of 14.29 and 11.69 meters.

"We are a close team working together towards the same goal," Pelsue said.

Freshman Alexis Capozzi finished 12th in the 55-meter dash with her time of 7.39. She also ran a personal-best in the 200-meter dash, finishing 27th with a time of 25.72.

Sophomore Stephanie Reusch competed in the 55-meter hurdles, finishing in 14th with a season-best time of 8.64.

The women's 4x400 team finished ninth with a time of 3:57.40.

Both teams will be competing in the A-10 Championships this weekend, which will be held at Mackal Field house Friday and Saturday.

"[The team] is looking forward to A-10s," Pelsue said. "It's the peak of our season, and we have been training very hard for it.