Track and field The Commonwealth Times

KINGSTON, RI – FEBRUARY 21: Zayd Abdul-Ali #499 of VCU and Nicholas Buckingham #502 of VCU compete during the menÕs 4×400-meter relay during Day 2 of the Atlantic 10 Indoor Track and Field Championships at Mackal Field House at the University of Rhode Island on February 21, 2016, in Kingston, Rhode Island. (Photo by Daniel Petty/Atlantic 10)

Friday

On Friday, Jan. 26 both the women’s and men’s track and field teams traveled north for the Widener Multi and Weight Meet in Chester, Pennsylvania.

Both teams were very successful in their appearances on the track Friday. In the women’s pentathlon VCU had three members place top four in the final standings. A few veterans — juniors LeClare Beres and Sakia Konin — finished first and second in the pentathlon, respectively.

Beres had a point total of 2,894 while Konin was right behind her with 2,748. Freshman Courtney Higgins placed fourth giving VCU a standout performance in the pentathlon. Higgins point total for the pentathlon was 2,326.

Those same three runners in Beres, Konin, and Higgins finished first, second and third in the standings in the pentathlon 55 hurdles. Beres was first with a time of 8.95 seconds. A VCU women’s runner finished first in all events at this meet.

KINGSTON, RI – FEBRUARY 21: Ashley Greenlee #267 of VCU competes during the womenÕs 4×800-meter relay during Day 2 of the Atlantic 10 Indoor Track and Field Championships at Mackal Field House at the University of Rhode Island on February 21, 2016, in Kingston, Rhode Island. (Photo by Daniel Petty/Atlantic 10)

The men’s track and field team was just as dominant as their women counterparts, securing two of the top three spots in the Heptathlon final standings.

Freshman Jonathan Mukeni placed first with a point total of 3,851. Mukeni also finished atop the leaderboard in the 1,000 meters, which was a photo finish.

His final time of 3:05.56 was less than a second more than his opponent from Haverford, Cameron Albrecht, who finished second with a time of 3:05.72.

Saturday

Both the men and women of the VCU track team were back in action on Saturday in Lynchburg to compete in the Liberty Kickoff.

For the men’s 60 meter dash senior Kareem Payne placed seventh with a time of 6.88 seconds.

Payne’s teammate senior Marcus Finnie finished 14th, coming in at 6.95 seconds. Finnie’s 14th place finish gave VCU two runners in the top 15 for the 60 meter dash.

KINGSTON, RI – FEBRUARY 21: Racheed Davis #503 of VCU competes during the menÕs triple jump during Day 2 of the Atlantic 10 Indoor Track and Field Championships at Mackal Field House at the University of Rhode Island on February 21, 2016, in Kingston, Rhode Island. (Photo by Daniel Petty/Atlantic 10)

The men had one top five finish all day on Saturday — sophomore Chukwuezugo Aguolo, who ran in the 500 meter dash.He placed fifth with a time of 1:05.33.

The women had an amazing performance in the triple jump competition, with three competitors finishing within the top 10. Taylor McCormick finished third, Aliyah Newman in fourth and lastly Metasebia Ermias finished tenth.

Both teams will be back in action next Friday in the Boston University Invitational.

Nile McNair, Contributing writer