Both the Colby women’s and men’s outdoor track teams competed strongly this past Saturday, April 7 at the Jim Sheehan Memorial Invitation at Fitchburg State University in Fitchburg, Mass.

Annabelle Hicks ’14 won two events for the women: the 400-meter dash and the long jump. Hicks finished the 400 dash in 1:00.95, just inching past teammate Brittney Bell ’13 (1:00.98), then leapt 16-10.75 to take the long jump. She also finished second in the triple jump (35-3). Hicks’ wins helped the Colby women to a second-place finish in the eight-team field with 163.50 points. Worcester State University won the meet with 195.50 points, and Bates College followed behind the Mules in third with 156.

By placing second in the 200-meter dash (26.06), Frances Onyilagha ’14 did her part in Colby’s strong result. Kate Connolly ’14 took second in the 1,500 meters (4:57.31). Other runner-up scores included Emily Arsenault ’14 in the 5,000 meters with a time of 18:56.34, Maeve McGovern ’14 in the 10,000 meters (40:12.79), Julianne LaBrecque ’14 in the pole vault with a jump of 9-0.25 and Sophie Weaver ’14 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (12:32.69).

The Mules followed with third-place finishes in the same events from Morgan Lingar ’13 in the 1,500 meters (4:57.42), Allison Rigby ’14 in the 5,000 meters (19:36.34), Emily Bees ’12 in the pole vault (9.0-25) and Caitlin Sperzel ’15 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (12:45.13). Sperzel was followed by Colleen Kenny ’12 in fourth (13:13.29). Abbott Matthews ’13 took third in the hammer throw (137-04), followed by Katherine McNamee ’14 in fourth (128-10). Bethany Weitzman ’14 threw for fourth in the shot put (33-10.25).

The Colby women also placed second in the 4 x 400 meter relay (Hicks, Laura Duff ’13, Onyilagha, Bell) in 4:14.93 and third in the 4 x 800 relay (Robyn St. Laurent ’12, Connolly, Duff, Lingar) in 10:42.01.

National Champion Dom Kone ’13, who won both the 100- and 200-meter dash events on Saturday, led the men’s outdoor track team. Kone sprinted the 100 dash in 10.86 seconds, then took the 200 in 22.52. His performance earned him the title of New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Men’s Outdoor Track Performer of the Week. His points contributed to the Mules’ third-place finish (97 points) in the 11-team field.

Colby also received wins from Kevin Clarke ’14 in the 800 dash—his time of 1:58.08 was the fastest of 31 runners—Justin Owumi ’14 in the triple jump (42-8) and Trent Wiseman ’13 in the pole vault with a leap of 14-6.25.

Will McCarthy ’15 took second in the 10,000 meters in 34:45.67. John Gilboy ’13 had a toss of 155-06 in the hammer throw for third place. The men’s 4 x 800 meter relay team (Charlie Coffman ’15, Chris Greenlee ’14, Ben Lester ’15, David White ’15) placed third in 8:16.12, and the 4 x 400 meter relay team (Clarke, Will Supple ’12, Andrew Martinez ’15, Brett Sahlberg ’15) took fourth (3:36.04).

This coming Saturday, April 14, both the women and men will play host to Bates College, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Southern Maine.