Coming off of her record-breaking performance last week, Christine Bendzinski ’18 once again broke the University record for the mile at the Scarlet and White Invitational on Feb. 3 at Boston University. Bendzinski and the women’s team placed 11th overall, while the men’s team placed fourth.

In the highlight of the day, Bendzinski finished sixth overall in the mile, with a 4:43.12 time. Colleen Buckley ’19 finished the mile with a time of 4:55.97, granting her a spot on the program’s all-time top-10 list. Bendzinski’s performance proves that she has not taken her foot off the throttle in her last year as an athlete.

“I definitely had high expectations for myself this past weekend, as I feel that I’m stronger compared to previous years,” Bendzinski said.

In other events throughout the meet, Kaitlin Salisbury ’20 posted her season-best time in the 60-meter dash at 7.78 seconds. Also excelling in the meet was Lauren Hudson ’18, who finished in sixth place in the high jump.

On the men’s side, the Bison finished fourth behind some stiff competition, including Albany, Monmouth, and Mississippi State. The standout runner for the Orange and Blue was Billy Melchionni ’19, who ran the 200-meter dash at a blazing speed of 21.8 seconds. He is now tied for third on the top ten list for the event in program history.

“Running the time I ran this weekend was an incredible confidence booster. I have been dealing with sickness and missed most of the indoor season so this was my first competitive meet of the season,” Melchionni said. “I am hoping to move further up the list as soon as possible, as I already broke the 300-meter school record earlier this season.”

Also competing in the men’s side was Nick Marino ’21, who set a new personal best in the pole vault competition after clearing 15 feet 10 inches. He is currently listed fourth on the all-time top-10 list. Jeffrey Brown ’20 finished sixth in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.97, while Alex Dessoye ’21 finished 18th in the 400-meter dash with a time of 48.74.

Up next for both teams is the University’s Tune-Up, where both the men’s and women’s teams will make their final adjustments before the upcoming Patriot League Championship for indoor track and field. The Tune-Up will be held Feb. 9 in the Gerhard Fieldhouse.