Women's track and field throwers see small success at Monmouth Opener

After a successful Spring Break that saw sophomore Megan Curham compete in the NCAA Indoor Championships, completing the cycle by earning All-America honors in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track and the team winning nine events to place first at the Walt Disney World Open, the women’s track & field team sent its throwers to compete in the Monmouth Season Opener in West Long Branch, N.J. on Saturday.

The men’s track and field team had a week off. A small group of the women’s track and field team participated at Monmouth this past weekend, but the team still saw considerable success.

The best performance on the day was from junior Brielle Rowe, who beat her personal record in the hammer throw, recording a throw of 47.58m (156-01) to come in fifth in the hammer throw and third of all collegiate performers. Rowe also came third in the discus throw, recording a 41.31m (135-06) mark, only just behind second place finisher Aziza Ahmed of Monmouth.

Freshman Kennedy O’Dell also competed in the discuss, placing eighthin the competitive field with a mark of 34.12m (111-11), less than a meter behind seventhplace finisher Brenda Perella from Cortland State. O’Dell was the only other Tiger to compete in more than one event, as she took part in the shot put event, with a season-best toss of 12.53m (41-01.50) to place fourth in the event, and less than a meter behind eventual winner Sophia Nnadi of Bucknell.

The women’s track and field team had three competitors in the field for the javelin throw, but they were some way off eventual winner Kelsey Reese of Monmouth University who won with a mark of 42.47m (139-04). The best finisher for the Tigers was senior Sarah Waszkewitz, who finished in eighthplace with a throw of 36.71m (120-05). Sophomore Ariel Becker finished in 13thplace with a mark of 31.28m (102-07) and junior Kerry Krause finished in 18thplace with a mark of 25.20m (82-08).

Next weekend will see the team host the Sam Howell Invitational at Weaver Stadium, which will begin on Friday, April 3 and continue to Saturday the 4th. The invitational will be the first of three events that will be held at home, with the Quad Meet and the Larry Ellis Invitational held the following weekends.