Friday: U.S. Coast Guard Academy Invitational
 
NEW LONDON, Conn.  -- The Eastern Connecticut State University track & field teams competed at the Coast Guard Academy Invitational at Gregory Field House on Friday. Several members of the women's team competed at the River Hawk Invitational at the TRACK at New Balance in Boston, MA. A portion of the men's team was scheduled to be racing at the River Hawk Invitational Saturday, but a large number of athletes participated at this in-state meet as well.
 
In the women's 55-meter hurdles, Mary Levesque (Coventry) ran a 10.44 in prelims, but finished 10th and narrowly missed out on finals. In the men's 55m hurdles, first-year athlete Hagen Drake (Stonington) led four competing Warriors, winning his heat in 8.25 seconds and automatically qualifying for finals. First-year athlete Jack Harvell (Stafford) ran 8.47 and first-year athlete Kennedy Lurry (Hartford) ran 8.51, while Kenny Bliven (Mansfield) finished in 9.06. Harvell and Lurry join Drake in the 55m hurdles finals. In the women's 55m dash, both first-year athletes Naziah Johnson (Norwalk) and Shannon Tallis (Suffield) made finals. Johnson ran 7.48 for 3rd and Tallis ran 7.86 for 8th. On the men's side, first-year athlete Tyrece Brown (Hartford) ran the event in 6.92, finishing 23rd.
 
Isabel Cintron (Vernon) finished 4 seconds ahead of Keira Warner (Ellington) in the women's 3000m. Cintron ran 11:46 for 5th and Warner ran 11:50 for 6th. Luke Dalton (Naugatuck) led a group of 4 Warriors competing in the 3000m on the men's side, running 9:17 for the win. Eastern took the top three spots in the field of twelve. Sam Ambrocio (Beacon Falls) led two of his teammates in the mile, running 4:40.10 for 4th overall.
 
Drake would return for the 55m hurdles finals and win the event, running 8.07. Lurry and Harvell swapped spots in finals, as Lurry finished in 8.47 and Harvell in 8.49. In the 55m dash finals, Johnson finished in 3rd, running 7.39 and Tallis took 8th in 7.74. In the men's 400m, Amadeus Bonilla (Newport News, VA) finished in second place, just 0.03 behind Dontay Taylor of Farmingdale State. Bonilla finished the race in 53.54. Joey Caruk (Wethersfield) ran 2:00.95 in the 800m for 4th place. On the women's side, Daria Fournier (Farmington) and first-year athlete Natalie Estabrook (Clinton) both ran similar times in the 800m, with Fournier finishing in 2:48.54 and Estabrook in 2:48.73. Bonilla also raced the 200m, leading his teammates with a 24.51for 12th overall. Tallis won her heat in the event, running 29.04 for 10th place.
 
First-year athlete Kimbrae Miller (Bloomfield) took the win in the women's weight throw by just an inch on Farmingdale State's Victoria DeGraw. Miller fouled on throws 3-6, but her second throw of 12.55m (41'2) proved to be enough to hold off DeGraw, who also earned her best throw on her second attempt. Ellis Thompson (Coventry) led his teammates on the men's side, throwing 14.18m (46'6) in his first attempt, landing him in 4th overall. Miller also led the Warriors in the shot put, throwing 9.75m (32'0) on her first attempt to put her in 6th at the end of the competition. First-year athlete Morgan Powell (Bloomfield) also made finals, throwing 9.08m (29'9.5) for 9th. First-year athlete Jerron McNair (Hartford) finished the highest for Eastern in the men's shot put, as his final throw of 11.85m (38'10.5) put him in 12th place.
 
Angelina Taccogna (Stratford) finished 7th in the triple jump. She jumped 9.96m (32'8.25) on her third attempt, but did not beat this mark in finals. First-year athlete Christian Anderson (Danbury) jumped 11.60m (38'0.75) on his only legal jump of the competition, finishing 6th. Taccogna also competed in the long jump, with her best coming on attempt #5 as she jumped 4.82m (15'9.75) for 4th overall. Anderson's best jump of the competition was his 3rd of 6.19m (20'3.75), finishing 6th overall. In addition to the long and triple jumps, Taccogna was also entered in the high jump, where she finished 2nd after clearing 1.43m (4'8.25). All-America Natasha Frisch (Mendota Heights, MN) won the pole vault competition, clearing 3.60m (11'9.75) on her second attempt. Lucian Parker-Jennings (Athens, VT) was third in the men's competition, clearing 4.15m (13'7.25) on his second attempt.
 
The Warriors are back in action next Saturday for the URI Coaches Invitational at Mackal Field House in Kingston, RI. This will be the second competition at the University of Rhode Island this season, having competed there just three weeks ago for the URI Invitational. This one-day meet will allow the Warriors to bring their entire team together and race for the final time before the Little East Conference Indoor Track & Field Championship the following weekend.
 
Friday-Saturday: River Hawk Invitational
 
BOSTON, Mass. - On Friday and Saturday, the Warriors made the trip up to Boston, MA for the River Hawk Invitational at the TRACK at New Balance. Day 1 of the invitational contained all of the women's events, while the second day was reserved for the men. In conjunction with this meet, some members of the Warriors squad competed at the Coast Guard Academy Invitational in New London, CT.
 
Eastern's Anaka Eaton (Coventry) took third place in her flight and 16th overall in the invitational section of the women's weight throw. On her first attempt, she reached 14.14 meters (46'4.75) and was unable to better this mark on her next two efforts. Eaton also threw the shot put and qualified for finals in the event. Once again, her first throw was the best of her preliminary round, but on throw #5, Eaton threw the shot 12.38 meters (40'7.5) and finished in 6th place out of 31.
 
 The Warriors had four women compete in the long jump, as Givanni Perry (Hartford) qualified for finals and finished 5th overall, with a jump of 5.34m (17'6.25) on her fifth attempt. First-year athlete Casondra Caldwell (Bridgeport) finished 14th and Laci Davis (Prospect) finishes 19th in the invitational section. First-year athlete Izzy Northrop (Uncasville) finished 23rd in the open section of the long jump with a 2nd jump of 4.61m (15'1.5). Perry cleared 1.45m (4'9) in the high jump and finished in an 11-way tie for 31st place. In addition to the long jump, Davis competed in the triple jump and used her first jump of 10.81m (35'5.75) to put her into 12th place on the day, missing finals by less than a foot.
 
On the track, first-year athlete Maya Korczak (East Hampton) finished 38th out of 74 in the 60m hurdles prelims with her 9.79, just seven hundredths of a second faster than Northrop. Ella Caplet (Bozrah) was 2nd overall in the 400m open, running 1:00.86 and losing to Merrimack's Piper Testa by 16 hundredths of a second. Emely Melendez (Nashua, NH) ran the 800m in 2:26.45, placing 34th overall. In the open section of the 200m, Jasmine Charlery (New Britain) ran 26.33 and won her heat for an 11th place finish in the field of 77. For the final event on the women's side, the 4x400m relay team of Charlery, Davis, Caldwell, and Caplet ran 4:09.92 for 12th overall.
 
On day 2 of the competition, Jeremy Peacock (Bolton) raced in the 60m dash, finishing 54th in a field of 128 with his 7.25 second finish. He doubled back for the 200m, running 22.83 and finishing 39th in an even larger field. Jakeem Wilson (Sterling) placed 30th in the 400m, running 50.96. Three Warriors raced the 800m, led by Zachary D'Andrea (Wallingford) who ran 1:57.71 for 21st place. First-year athlete Jack Harvell (Stafford) ran 9.32 in the 60m hurdles, finishing 46th overall.
 
Dustin Sannasi (Waterbury) cleared 1.85m (6'0.75) in the high jump to finish the competition in 17th place. In the pole vault, Bode Paquin (Windham) finished in 17th overall, jumping 3.65m (11'11.75) after competing last night. Michael Hemmings (Bridgeport) jumped 5.96m (19'6.75) on his first attempt in the long jump, landing him in 25th place. In the open section of the competition, First-year athlete Tristan Nye (Willimantic) was 3rd overall after jumping 6.32m (20'9) on his second attempt. Nye also led the Warriors in the triple jump, using his final attempt of 12.57m (41'3) to give him 22nd place.
 
 Mike Prizio (Trumbull) threw 12.16m (39'10.75) in the shot put on his final and only legal attempt of the afternoon. In the invitational section of the shot put, Andrew Johnson (Portland) threw 14.59m (47'10.5) on his second attempt. In the weight throw, he threw 12.18m (39'11.5) on his final attempt. Mark Boudreau (Oxford) threw 12.63m (41'5.25) in the invitational section of the weight throw.
 
The Warriors are back in action next Saturday for the URI Coaches Invitational at Mackal Field House in Kingston, RI. This will be the second competition at the University of Rhode Island this season, having competed there just three weeks ago for the URI Invitational. This one-day meet will allow the Warriors to bring their entire team together and race for the final time before the Little East Conference Indoor Track & Field Championship the following weekend.