As the sun has begun to shine a little bit more brightly these past days following a dreary March and February, the Stony Brook University Seawolves Track and Field team hit the ground running on Sunday in the Yale Springtime Invitational. Looking to add a fourth straight record breaking performance, Lucy Van Dalen led the Seawolves to three top-three finishes on the afternoon.
Van Dalen has continued her hot fall and winter performances this year by breaking three records in three consecutive meets this spring, the latest one being a record in the 3,000 meter run held previously by her sister Holly, who, in fact, had broken the very same record fifteen days before the Penn Relays.
At the Yale Springtime Invitational, Van Dalen competed in the 1,500 meter race. Although Lucy did not break a record this time around, she ran well enough to place first with a time of 4:32.52, just barely missing out on a chance to make a bid for an ECAC qualifying spot. The next runner, a freshman from Manhattan, placed a good fourteen seconds behind with a time of 4:46.74. The women also placed five more runners in the top ten.
Fisayo Tunde, a senior from Selden, NY, placed tenth in the women’s 100 meter dash with a time of 12.90, and Justine Noel, the freshman from Brooklyn, NY, also placed tenth in her respective event, the 400 meter dash, with a time of 59.76.
Jacquie Kehoe finished a strong second in the 3,000 meter run with a time of 10:40.42, just ten seconds behind the highest finisher hailing from Quinnipiac, the rookie freshman Jillian Fauser took ninth in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 1:10.22, and rounding out the top six women competitors was sophomore Leanne Skrabacz who placed third in the 3000 meter steeplechase with a time of 12:28.00.
On the men’s side of the day, juniors Tim Hodge, hailing from Tawa, New Zealand, and Daire Bermingham, who calls Portmarnock, Ireland home, crossed second and third in their races, respectively. Hodge competed in the men’s 1,500 meter race, finishing in 3:55.15, which happened to be less than three seconds behind the top finisher, Yale’s Jake Gallagher. Bermingham took third in his event, the 800 meter, and finished in 1:54.95, two seconds behind the first place runner from Manhattan.
The men had one more finish in the top ten on the day, with the spot belonging to freshman Brett Crandell, from Penfield, NY, who finished sixth in the 3000 meter steeplechase, with a time of 10:18.47.
Next up on Stony Brook’s docket is the America East Outdoor Championships this weekend as both Stony Brook’s track ‘ field teams will travel to Binghamton to compete.
