NEW LONDON, Conn . – In their return to the Nutmeg State, the University of New Haven Men's and Women's Track and Field Teams returned to the track competing at the Silfen Invitational hosted by Connecticut College in one of the final three meets for the Chargers ahead of the NE10 Conference Championships.
The Chargers relays dominated the track with all four taking home top-five finishes at the meet.
The men's 4x400m relay team took home the blue and gold first win of the meet. The team of Jason Lorent (Shelton, Conn./Shelton), Nathaniel Peters (Stoughton, Mass./Stoughton), Cole Parker (Severn, Md./Annapolis Area Christian School), and Kenneth Holland (Circleville, N.Y./Pine Bush) finished with a time of 3:25.24 securing the win and 10 points for New Haven.
The men's 4x800 team of Jacob Carson (Seymour, Conn./Notre Dame (West Haven)), Elijah Espinal (Hamden, Conn./Hamden), Andrew Trolio, and Zachary Turner finished third overall crossing with a time of 8:55.29 to win six overall points.
The women's 4x100m relay team of Kristen Washington (New Haven, Conn./James Hillhouse), Kalaya Fitch (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial), Daphna Gerber (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South), and Savannah Sistrunk (Georgetown, Del./Sussex Academy of Arts & Sciences) finished fourth overall with a final time of 48.63 securing five points overall.
Wrapping up the meet, the women's 4x400m relay team of Daphna Gerber (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South), Kalaya Fitch (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial), Deja Harris, and Savannah Sistrunk (Georgetown, Del./Sussex Academy of Arts & Sciences) finished with a final time of 4:20.89 finishing fifth overall and scoring four points.
Jordanny Dely finished fifth overall in the 100-meter dash crossing with a time of 10.95 and scored four points for the blue and gold.
Jason Lorent (Shelton, Conn./Shelton) added four points to the Chargers' total with his fifth-place finish in the 200m dash finishing with a time of 22.59.
Nathaniel Peters (Stoughton, Mass./Stoughton) had himself an afternoon with a pair of third-place finishes at the meet. Peters started with a third-place finish in the 400m hurdles finishing with a time of 57.74 and earning six points for the blue and gold. Peters followed that up with a third-best jump in the high jump with a final height of 1.90m. Peters entered at 1.80m clearing that and 1.85m on his first attempts with ease. At 1.90m Peters went down to the wire clearing on his final jump to take the third-place finish and add another six points.
Anita Hodge (Fords, N.J./Woodbridge) finished fifth overall throwing discuss as she finished with a final mark of 36.62m. Hodge opened up the event with a mark of 28.29m on her second throw. Hodge would then add distance to her next two throws before landing her mark of 36.62m moving her into fifth and scoring four points for New Haven.
Kenneth Holland (Circleville, N.Y./Pine Bush) left the sand pit with a fifth-place finish in the long jump. Holland jumped 6.41m on his first jump and began to gain more and more air on his fifth jump he caught wind and jumped 6.54m finishing him fifth overall and scoring four points for the team total.
Kristen Washington (New Haven, Conn./James Hillhouse) finished with the best finish by a Charger in a field event finishing second overall in the long jump. Washington after opening her afternoon with a jump of 5.07m increased her distance each jump before her final jump where she found her best jump, jumping 5.58m, jumping her into second place and securing eight points overall.
J'Quan Athis (New Haven, Conn./Hillhouse) finished fourth overall in the shot put with a final throw of 13.53m. Just like many of the other Chargers, Athis grew into the event increasing his mark on each throw before landing his best mark of 13.53m on his final throw of the event and taking home five points.
Overall the men scored 51 points to finish fifth overall for the meet and the women scored 42 points finishing eighth overall for the meet.
The Chargers return to the track next week in Boston with just two meets to go before the Conference Championships. Next week the Chargers competed at the Jay Carisella Coaches Invitational in Boston, Massachusetts on Saturday, April 22. All updates, schedules, and post-game recaps for the team will be available at Newhavenchargers.com.
