After waiting well over a year, the Women’s Track & Field team was finally able to enter the heat of competition once again. Based on their performance, it appears that they didn’t miss a step.

Travelling to the Stockton Invitational to start their season, champions were quickly in the making as senior Nicole Notarianni took first in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.13. Notarianni also set a new PR in the 200-meter with her fifth place finish of 27.64.

As for distance, graduate Jennie Sabol kept a blistering pace in the 3000-meter race, taking first place with a solid time of 11:47.850. 

Supporting those victories were junior Promise Fadahunsi and sophomore Robin Collura, who both took second in their respective events. Fadahunsi managed to finish second in both the 100- and 200-meter dash, posting times of 13.02 and 27.20. The 800-meter was where Collura shined, finishing the race with a time of 2:29.17 and setting a solid foundation for her college career. 

The field events proved to be equally fruitful, with several athletes managing to place in their events. Senior Olivia Scattergood was able to flex her muscles on this day, with a hammer throw of 42.94 meters that was good for second place in the event. A discus toss of 35.15 meters clinched third place as well.

The same goes for junior Makayla Taylor, whose throw of 11.33 meters in shot put was good for second place in the event. It was apparently hammer time for Taylor, with her toss of 42.50 meters setting a new personal best in the event.

The squad worked well in some of the relay events, most notably in the 4×400 relay. The tandem of sophomore Kat Pedersen, sophomore Amanthy Sosa Caceres, freshman Livvy Stocklin and the aforementioned Collura finished with a time of 4:16.54, good for third in the event. 

The 1500-meter saw a pair of Rowan runners participate, with freshman Julianne Ferraro starting off her Rowan career with a time of 5:21.54, earning her third place. Junior Lindsey Hofschneider didn’t finish too far behind, securing fifth place with a time of 5:33.63.

The 400-meter hurdles and long jump saw a couple of Prof placements thanks to junior Mahon McClenahan and sophomore Sophia Gresham. McClenahan conquered the hurdles with a personal best time of 1:09.96 and Gresham jumped 4.74 meters, earning them both third place in their events. 

Sophomore Jess Rodgers and freshman Amanda Burke, like many other Profs on the roster, saw productive starts to their careers at the Invitational, with Rodgers’ 30.83 meter javelin toss granting her fourth place. Burke’s 1.4 meter high jump also got her fourth place. For the triple jump, Caceres and Stocklin posted jumps of 9.82 meters and 9.56 meters, respectively, resulting in fourth and fifth place for the Profs. 

Rounding out the day were some solid efforts by the squad. In the 400-meter dash, Pederson and Caceres finished fifth and sixth with times of 1:02.78 and 1:04.27. Sophomore Nicole Bertollo debuted in the 800-meter with a fifth place finish of 2:34.86. Finally, sophomores Sasha Jarvis and Kate Appleby-Wineberg secured a pair of sixth place finishes in the 3000-meter and pole vault, ending with a time of 12:18.12 and a distance of 2.75 meters.

Considering the circumstances surrounding this first meet, the squad could not have managed to start off the block in a more explosive fashion. In total, the Profs took home two event victories and placed in nine different instances. They were consistently finishing on the “podium,” and if they can maintain that level of production and excellence throughout the season, they are certainly poised to make some noise the rest of the way.

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