WALTHAM, Mass. - The Worcester State University men's and women's indoor track & field teams return from their winter break on Saturday, competing in the Reggie Poyau Invitational at Brandeis University.
The Worcester State women finished in fifth place out of 12 teams competing, while the men finished in a tie for 11th out of 12 teams.
Freshman Avonia Herbert (Sharon, Mass.) was a force to be reckoned with on the day, with top-five finishes in three events. Herbert was the third place finisher in the 200 meter dash with a time of 27.03 seconds, while finishing fifth in both the triple jump (10.40 meters) and the 60 meter dash (7.95 seconds).
Despite Herbert's strong 60 meter dash finish, the rookie was the third Lancer to cross the line in the event, as senior Abigail MacGregor (Salem, N.H.) was second at 7.87 seconds and freshman Elena Pellegrini (Ashland, Mass.) was fourth at 7.93 seconds. The same trio also all recorded top-eight finishes in the 200 meter dash, with Pellegrini in sixth at 27.14 seconds and MacGregor in eighth at 27.72 seconds.
Freshman Odelia Konadu (Worcester, Mass.) topped a handful of strong performances from Lancer field athletes, placing third in the shot put with a heave of 11.69 meters. In the same event, senior Carina Fronteiro (Ipswich, Mass.) was fifth at 11.24 meters. Freshmen Gabriela Ribeiro (Woonsocket, R.I.) and Maureen Grady (Douglas, Mass.) each recorded sixth place finishes in the weight throw and long jump respectively.
On the track, senior Brenda Thomas (Worcester, Mass.) was the fourth place finisher in the 400 meter dash at 1:04.26, while sophomore Kasey Clark (Dudley, Mass.) finished sixth in the 800 meter run at 2:38.39. In the distance events, sophomore Ryann Molinari (Grafton, Mass.) placed sixth in the 3,000 meter run at 11:27.62, while junior Kyra Siano (North Attleboro, Mass.) placed seventh in the mile run at 5:49.28.
On the men's side, sophomore Dariel Canela (Peabody, Mass.) had a pair of top-seven finishes on the day, placing sixth in the shot put at 13.14 meters and seventh in the weight throw at 12.80 meters.
In the men's heptathlon, sophomore Andre Luciano (Milford, Mass.) finished in fifth place with 3,929 points. The sophomore was the winner of the 60 meter dash as part of the heptathlon, running a time of 7.29 seconds.
Freshman Nick Iarussi (Woonsocket, R.I.) was the ninth place finisher on the day in the high jump at 1.80 meters, while sophomore Patrick Carleton (Tewksbury, Mass.) rounded out the Worcester State men's top-10 finishers with a 10th place finish in the 3,000 meter run at 9:39.61.
Worcester State will return to action next Saturday when the Lancers compete in the Smith Pioneer Invitational.
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