This past Saturday, the Bill Fritz Invitational took place in the Profs’ backyard on Rowan’s campus and the Rowan women’s track & field team certainly were able to make some noise and put on a show in front of the home crowd.
One of the biggest success stories this season, senior Nicole Notarianni clinched another victory in the 100m hurdles for a fourth consecutive week, crushing her time the week before of 15.02 with a finish of 14.66. For her, being in this position of success has simply been tremendous.
“Honestly, it’s exciting and motivates me to push myself even harder,” Notarianni said. “It’s helped that I’ve been able to do a bunch of drills with the guys team, and I’ll keep working to continue the streak.”
Sophomore Robin Collura also earned herself an event win, clinching victory in the 800m with a time of 2:25.47. Like Notarianni before her, unexpectedly exceeding her initial expectations has meant the world to her.
“Doing well has been very rewarding with my training paying off,” Collura noted. “I couldn’t do any of it without my teammates. They’re always super supportive and encouraging, motivating everyone else during each event.”
That winning mentality would prove to be the difference for her and her 4x400m relay teammates, with sophomores Kat Pederson, Amanthy Sosa Cacere, and freshman Livvy Stocklin combining with Collura to take first place in the event with a solid time of 4:12.18.
The relay tandem got the job done on an individual basis as well, with Sosa Cacere and Pederson finishing almost simultaneously in the 400m dash, taking second and third place respectively. The 400m hurdles also brought some success, with junior Mahon McClenahan placing second with a time of 1:09:99, an important milestone since it was her first second place finish in her career.
The 800m race saw Stocklin and fellow sophomore Nicole Bertollo secure fifth and third place with times of 2:34.08. and 2:29.18.
Record breaker senior Olivia Scattergood managed to add another chapter in her historic hammer throwing season, taking second and breaking the school record she broke just the week before. The old mark was replaced with an astonishing 48.37m, adding nearly an entire meter onto her throw.
Freshman Amanda Burke was able to show off her hops in a big way, tying for second place with a high jump of 1.38 meters. The pole vault saw Kate Appleby-Winberg take third with a distance of 2.75 meters, a much needed performance in the event.
Junior Makayla Taylor quickly bounced back to her old dominating form after her rough week prior, coming in second for discus [37.28m], third for shot put [11.69m], and fourth in hammer [44.48m]. She was supported by solid outings from freshman Ariana Mack, sophomore Jess Rodgers, and Livvy Stocklin, with Mack taking fifth [33.44m] in discus while Rodgers and Stocklin finished fifth [28.99m] and sixth [28.15m] in the javelin.
The Profs were able to keep up their endurance rather well, with freshman Amanda McNally, grad student Jennie Sabol, and sophomore Emily Rooney taking third [5:17.93)], fourth [5:23.88], and fifth place [5:24.98] in the 1500m race. The 5000m race saw senior Brianna De La Cruz finish in fifth place at the 21:48.37 mark.
Clearly, Coach Derick “Ringo” Adamson was rather pleased with his team’s performance, and he credits his squad’s hardwork and use of opportunity to propel them forward.
“Some of our superstars being at home has given our other potential stars more opportunity to perform,” Adamson said. “No one expected a lot of the performances that have happened this year, but they were given two choices: to stay at their current level or to rise to the occasion. So far, they’ve come out and risen up, and I couldn’t be more proud of them all.”
Production from the unlikeliest of sources has been the theme of the team this season. But at the end of the day, the Profs’ recent event success is not overly shocking. The squad all believe in themselves and each other, and when you have that belief and confidence established within you before you even touch the track, anything is possible.
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