Members of the Bison men’s and women’s track teams competed in the Raleigh Relays and the Jim Taylor Invitational on March 30 and March 31, respectively.

Distance runners Christine Bendzinski ’18 and Colleen Buckley ’19 competed against top competition at the Raleigh Relays. Bendzinski won her heat and placed 12th overall in the 5,000m with a time of 16:17.66, the fastest in University history by 12 seconds. Buckley also had a strong performance in the 10,000m with a time of 34:53.59, good for second in program history. Based on their performances, both women will likely qualify for the NCAA East Preliminary Meet later in the spring.

At the Jim Taylor Invitational, the women’s contingent for the Orange and Blue racked up 13 wins, highlighted by a standout performance from Maura Fiamoncini ’21. Fiamoncini smashed the program record in javelin, throwing 184’ 5″, a whopping 25 feet further than the previous record. In other field events, Molly Montavlo ’19 moved into fifth in the Bison record books with a hammer throw of 176.5 feet. Lauren Hudson ’18 took first in high jump, while the Bison women also took first in discus throw and shot put.

Jennifer Dietrich ’21 led the way in the short races, winning the 200m and 400m dash. Four other runners for the Orange and Blue rounded out the top five spots in the 200-meter event. The Bison also placed five in the top ten in the 400m sprint. Kafilat Oladiran ’18 took first in the 100m hurdles, and Kaitlyn Salisbury ’20 won the 100m dash. In distance, Emma Dolen ’20 took first place in the 3,000m steeplechase race.

On the men’s side, the team ended the Invitational with eight first-place finishes. In the field events, Reggie Harris ’19 placed first in the triple jump while Brendan Bodisch ’21 finished first in the long jump. Fellow teammates Nicholas Marino ’21 and Jordan Montero ’21 won the pole vault and javelin competitions, respectively.

Meanwhile on the track, the Bison continued the momentum. James Weissenborn ’20 topped thirty other competitors in the 5,000m race, finishing with a time of 15:29.66. Coming off of an impressive indoor season, Jeffrey Brown ’20 won the 100m dash, clocking in at 10.73.

Brown would go on to team up with Ryquan Harris ’20, Alex Dessoye ’21, and Billy Melchionni ’19 to win the 4×100 relay with a time of 41.74.

This meet proved to be an impressive showing for the freshmen class, including twin brothers Alex Dessoye ’21 and Robert Dessoye ’21. In the 400m, Alex was the runner-up while Robert finished third in the 800m.

The Bison track team will return to action in the Virginia Quad and Hopkins-Loyola Invitational on April 7.