TROY, N.Y. – The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's track & field team delivered a dominant day at the Capital District Classic on Harkness Track, piling up a long list of event victories and top-eight finishes across the sprints, middle distance, distance events, relays, jumps, and throws.
RPI's sprint group opened the meet with a trio of scoring performances in the 200-meter dash, led by
Alyssa Fici in third (26.16 seconds) and
Ava Marcucci in fourth (26.46), while
Emma McGuinn added another point-scoring result in eighth (26.98). The Engineers kept the momentum rolling in the 400 as
Lauren Szalkowski captured the event title in 58.73, and
Laura Hoag followed with a strong fourth-place finish in 1:00.43. In the 800,
Charlotte Koutalidis continued RPI's scoring presence with a fourth-place effort of 2:20.94, while
Anoua Carrie added a seventh-place finish in 2:25.54.
The Engineers' distance group controlled the results sheet in the 1500, led by
Julianne Bleskoski who won the seeded section in 4:42.45.
Erin vonHousen followed in second (4:43.07), and
Ava Handel secured third in 4:51.08, while
Claudia Wolf added another top-eight finish in eighth at 4:54.83. RPI also scored in the unseeded section, where
Niamh Heraghty placed third in 5:08.18 and
Karina Martinez earned sixth in 5:14.11.
RPI continued its standout day in the 5,000 meters, sweeping the top seven positions.
Olivia Reid won the event in 18:48.49, edging
Theresa O'Connor in second (18:49.00), with
Alyse Karanian taking third in 18:51.44.
Kaitlyn Fleming finished fourth (19:22.34) and
Grace Turner added fifth (19:44.85), while Josie Howard placed sixth in 19:58.84 and
Elsie Corbett took seventh in 20:17.34 to complete an impressive scoring sweep.
Alice Brambati posted a runner-up finish in the 100-meter hurdles in 14.39, while McGuinn added another top-three finish by taking third in 14.59. The Engineers also earned points in the steeplechase as
Chloe Nebel placed third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 12:27.22.
RPI's 4x100-meter relay team of Fici, Brambati, Szalkowski, and Marcucci finished second in 48.47, while the Engineers closed the day with a win in the 4x400-meter relay, as Fici, Hoag, Carrie, and
Maeve Murphy combined for a first-place time of 4:06.08.
The Engineers scored consistently in the field events as well, highlighted by a win from
Alice Brambati in the long jump with a mark of 5.78 meters. In the high jump,
Sonia Staroscik cleared 1.43 meters to finish second, and
Tooni Olaleye followed in third at 1.38 meters, while Gabby Irvin added a fourth-place result at 1.28 meters. In the pole vault,
Ainsley Rausch finished third with a clearance of 3.00 meters, and
Isabelle Sullivan added points by tying for eighth at 2.10 meters. Brambati also won the triple jump with a mark of 11.72 meters, while Staroscik placed fifth (10.14m) and
Maeve Murphy took seventh (9.63m).
Leanna Wells posted a strong second-place finish in the shot put with a mark of 13.13 meters, and
Katie Lynch added a seventh-place result at 11.41 meters. Lynch also earned a runner-up finish in the discus with a throw of 40.48 meters, while
Grace Richard finished fifth at 33.93 meters. In the hammer, Lynch continued her strong meet with a third-place mark of 49.45 meters, and Richard followed in seventh (43.61m).
RPI closed its field-event scoring with a pair of top-two finishes in the javelin, as
Emma Muir won the event with a throw of 33.92 meters and
Grace Garman took second at 33.16 meters, while
Sophia LaTourette placed seventh (26.35m) and
Virginia Van Mater finished eighth (25.13m).
