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Track and Field

Bryant Cross Country/Track and Field End of Year Recap

SMITHFIELD, R.I.-  The 2023-24 season marked one of the best in the history of the Bryant University Cross Country/ Track and Field Program. The Bulldogs would break a combined 32 school records and capture their first championship in program history with the women's team placing first at the NEICAAA Outdoor Championships. 

New Dawgs in the House:

Director of Cross Country/Track and Field, Mitchell Switzer, welcomed two newcomers to his coaching staff for the 2023-24 season. They included Head Cross Country Coach/Assistant Track and Field Coach, Maggie Fox and Graduate Assistant Alex Whatley. Fox came to Bryant after spending two years as an assistant coach at Babson College. Whatley competed in both cross country and track and field at Ithaca College and graduated in 2023 with a degree in Business Administration. The addition of the two would help foster tremendous performances out of the team's distance runners throughout the year. Their impact would be displayed early with the start of cross country.

Cross Country:

The 2023 cross country season kicked off at the Maine Pre-Conference Invitational in Orono. Ryan Slaney would lead the men's team with a 7th place finish in the 8k (25:12.8). Jasmine Trott would have the top time for the Bulldog women and completed the 5k in 18:37.8; earning 9th place. 

The Black and Gold would then return home to host their 22nd Annual Shawn M Nassaney Invitational on the Bryant campus. Slaney would be the school's top finisher, this time in the 5k, running 15:21.3 and finishing 8th overall. Trott would also earn a top 10 finish after running 18:21.4 

At Lehigh's Paul Short Run the Bulldogs would record 7 total personal records with the men's team placing 20th and the women finishing 15th in the Brown race. The NEICAAA Cross Country Championships would see junior Dawson Reynolds place Top 25 (23rd) with a time of 26.29.1. Justin Shiffrin, A.J. Chiapetta, Toby Ruffo, and Jarlen Arango joined Reynolds as point scorers.The women's team was led by freshman Isabel Berardino who finished with a time of 20:06.6 in the 5k. The women finished 13th overall and saw Alexa Fisher, Grace Sullivan, Emma Gryzbinski, and Jayden Stygar join Berardino as point scorers.

Senior Nolan Hickey would shine for the Black and Gold at Vermont's Fall Foliage Invitational after placing first and propelling the men's team to a second overall finish. Chloe Whiting would be the top finisher on the women's side placing 9th and lifting the women to 4th place.

The 2023 America East Cross Country Championships would be a historic one for Bryant as junior Ryan Slaney would record the highest finish for a Bulldog in conference meet history; placing second with a time of 24:27.66 in the men's 8k. Sophomore Jasmine Trott also had a terrific performance finishing 6th in the field after running 18:07.59 in the 5k. The Black and Gold continued to make history the following week at the NCAA Northeast Regionals with the women's team recording their highest team finish in school history at the meet; placing 25th overall. Jasmine Trott led the women with a time of 21:35.9 in the 6k. Chloe Whiting, Emma Nadolski, Kelley MacElhiney and Casey Curran joined Trott as point scorers. The Men's team finished in 28th place which was second best in school history. Junior Ryan Slaney led the way with a time 30:34.6. This would be Bryant's highest individual finish at the regionals in program history. Slaney would be joined by Nolan Hickey, Dawson Reynolds, Justin Shiffrin, and Nicholas Poulin who were also point scorers. Slaney would also later be named Fall Scholar Athlete by the America East for Cross Country.

Indoor Track and Field:

The indoor track and field season would begin with an outstanding performance in the Alden Invitational at Brown University. The Black and Gold would post 22 all-time top ten performances and the women's team would place second overall. Freshman Dasani Stewart would break the women's triple jump record in her collegiate debut after jumping 10.98m. Kasey Thomas would also begin a historic graduate season after throwing a then school record 13.90m in the women's shot put.

Thomas would continue her historic graduate season well into the 2024 indoor season, breaking her program record on multiple occasions and eventually earning the bronze medal at the America East Indoor Championships after throwing 14.85m. Another upperclassmen with a tremendous indoor season was Jasmine Hope. Hope would reset her school record in the women's long jump at the UMass Flagship Invitational after jumping 5.74m. She would also later break the program's all-time record in the 60m dash after running 7.61 in the 60m dash at the NEICAAA Championships.

More history would be made for the Black and Gold at the URI Invitational where Jasmine Trott would break Eimear Black's 11 year old school record in the women's 3,000m after running 9:48.76; placing second overall at the meet. Junior Mike Marshall Jr. and freshman Lucas Kehoe also put on an impressive showing as the two of them tied the then school record in the high jump with a height of 1.96m. Their record shattering season would continue in a split meet weekend between Boston University's John Thomas Terrier Classic and the Wheaton College Invite. Ryan Slaney set the school's record in the men's mile; finishing in 4:05.30. Graduate Student Aliya Barrows would also become first all-time in the women's 500m. Two of the Bulldogs relay teams also set program records with the women's 4x400m relay led by Aliya Barrows, Lauren Haddad, Ana Bertarelli, and Savannah Pineda finished 10th overall in the Terrier Classic with a time of 3:49.01. The men's distance medley relay team finished fifth overall in Boston as Nolan Hickey, Toby Ruffo, Aidan Hickey, and Ryan Slaney combined for a time of 9:49.74.

At the America East Indoor Championships, the women's team would headline a historic weekend.  The women's team recorded their best meet finish in Division I school history and placed 4th with 93 total points. The men's team finished 7th with 56 points. Aliya Barrows would take home the gold medal in the 800m with a time of 2:13.13 after narrowly beating out UMass Lowell's Rachel Thomas thanks to a remarkable final lap.  Lois Warden and Kalen Knott both earned silver medals in the pole vault and Ashley Brule earned bronze.  Nolan Hickey, Ethan Ferraiola, Aidan Hickey, and Ryan Slaney put together a terrific performance in the Men's DMR as they would win the silver with a time of 9:48.21. Aidan Hickey and Ryan Slaney both earned multiple medals on the weekend. Slaney would win the silver in the 3,000m (8:22.06) and Hickey would take home the bronze in the 800m while also breaking the school record with a time of 1:51.93. Mike Marshall Jr. would also reset his school record in the high jump after clearing 2.00m. 

The team would close out the indoor season the following week at the NEICAAA Championships in Boston. The Bulldogs broke five school records and had 18 new additions to the school's all-time top ten performances. Day one would see Savannah Pineda break Bryant's record in the women's 200m with a time of 24.71. Ryan Slaney would also reset his own school record in the men's 5000m. On day two, Jasmine Hope would set a new school record in the women's 60m dash with a time of 7.61. Maggie Fodera would also reset her own school record in the pentathlon with 3236 points and tie the program's mark in the high jump; clearing a height of 1.61m.

Outdoor Track and Field:

The team would begin their outdoor campaign at Charleston Southern, competing in the Buccaneer Invitational. The Bulldogs would have 43 total PR's and 8 New England qualifiers. Ryan Slaney would become the program's best in the 1,500m after running 3:48.54. Jasmine Hope would also reset her school record in the women's 100m dash with a time of 11.83.

The team would then return home to host the Black and Gold Invitational. In the Bulldogs home meet, they would dominate; with both team's placing first overall. This marked the first home victory for the women's team and gave the men's team a first place finish for the second consecutive year. Bryant won ten total events throughout the weekend which included Jasmine Trott's stellar showing in the women's 10,000m. Trott would finish the race in 35:56.67 which would earn her the program record. Other notables from the weekend included Ryan Slaney resetting his school record in the men's 5000m and Dasani Stewart setting a new program mark in the triple jump (11.50m).

The Bulldogs would return to the road the following week when they would compete at UMass Amherst's Flagship Opener. The women's team would finish fifth overall while the men placed tenth. Standout performances from the meet included Savannah Pineda breaking the schools outdoor 200m record (24.59) as well as Nolan Hickey winning the men's 5000m and qualifying for New England's with a time of 14:44.82. Bryant would also compete later in the week at UMass in the school's multi-meet and see junior Maggie Fodera break the schools record in the heptathlon with a total 4,243 points. 

The Bulldogs would compete in three separate meets over the second weekend of April. Competition would begin just down the road as Providence College would host their annual Friar Invitational. Ryan Slaney would steal the show for the Black and Gold as he would break the school record in the men's 5,000m with a time of 13:59.58; becoming the first runner in school history to run sub 14 minutes in the event. The remaining members of the team would compete between Bucknell Outdoor Classic and the Merrimack Alumni Classic. In those two meets the Bulldogs would break two school records and add 18 all-time top ten performances to the record book. Aliya Barrows continued her remarkable graduate season with the Bulldogs and broke the school record in the women's 800m with a time 2:10.16. Jasmine Trott also reset her school record in the women's 10,000m, improving on her previous mark by over 50 seconds.

Bryant field event athletes shined at UMass Lowell's George Davis Invitational. Freshman Shelby Anderson broke an 18 year old record in the women's javelin after throwing 40.95m. Two additional school records would also be broken in both the men's and women's pole vault. Nicholas Mirecki would set the men's record after clearing a height of 4.55m and Ashley Brule would then tie Lois Warden's mark for the women after clearing 3.75m. 

As the Black and Gold closed in on the conference championships, they would once again have to divide and conquer. A select group of the team competed at the historic Penn Relays in Philadelphia. At the meet, Bryant would break the school record in the Sprint Medley Relay as Vincent Sivo, Will Remkiewicz, Ethan Ferraiola, and Aidan Hickey would combine for a time of 3:24.96. The women's 4x400m relay team also had an outstanding weekend as Lauren Haddad, Ana Bertarelli, Aliya Barrows, and Savannah Pineda put up the second fastest time in school history and placed fifth in the finals for the event. The remainder of the team would compete at the UNH Pre-Conference Invitational. Notables from Durham included Shelby Anderson resetting her javelin record for the second consecutive week and the men's 4x100 relay team finishing second overall with a time of 42.15.

The America East Outdoor Championships would be held at UMBC in Baltimore, Maryland. On day one, the Bulldogs would earn five medals and the women's team would record the most points in school history for the first day of a championship meet. Lois Warden took home the gold in the women's pole vault after clearing 3.70m. Ryan Slaney and Jasmine Trott would both take home the silver in the 10,000m. Other additions to the podium included pole vaulter Ashley Brule(3.55m)  and Kalen Knott (4.25m) who each earned bronze in the event. Day two would see Aliya Barrows defend her title in the women's 800m, by winning the gold in the outdoor with a time of 2:12.51. Slaney would record his second medal in the men's 5,000m where he took home the bronze after running 14:23.66. Maggie Fodera would also earn the silver in the women's heptathlon after accumulating 4,154 points and the men's 4x800m relay (Toby Ruffo, Justin Shiffrin, Nolan Hickey, and Aidan Hickey) would break the school record after running 7:40.29. The women's team had their best all-time finish at the America East Conference Meet on Sunday after placing third with a program record 106.5 points. The men's team finished the weekend in 7th with 53 points.

The Black and Gold would close out the year with the NEICAAA Championships at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. The first day of competition would see many highlights, but none bigger than Jasmine Hope who would break her three year old school record in the women's long jump after jumping 6.05m. Hope becomes the first female athlete in school history to jump over 6.00m. Day two would see Kelley MacElhiney, Marissa Crowley, Shelby Degrenier, and Aliya Barrows shatter the women's 4x800m relay school record by over 17 seconds and take home the gold (9:06.11). Other notable performances included Lois Warden placing second in the pole vault (3.62), Kasey Thomas finishing second in the shot put (14.43m), and Ryan Bourke, William Remkiewicz, Toby Ruffo, and Nolan Hickey placing 4th in the men's 4x800m relay. The women's team posted 93.5 points and captured their first championship victory in either team's program history. 

As the page turns to next season, Bryant Cross Country/Track and Field would like to thank its graduating seniors as well as all those who have helped this program thrive over the years. The future is extremely bright as we head into 2024-25!
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Players Mentioned

Aliya Barrows

Aliya Barrows

5' 4"
Graduate Student
Ana Bertarelli

Ana Bertarelli

5' 5"
Senior
Marissa Crowley

Marissa Crowley

5' 8"
Senior
Ethan Ferraiola

Ethan Ferraiola

5' 6"
Senior
Aidan Hickey

Aidan Hickey

6' 2"
Senior
Nolan Hickey

Nolan Hickey

6' 2"
Senior
Nicholas Mirecki

Nicholas Mirecki

5' 10"
Senior
William Remkiewicz

William Remkiewicz

5' 11"
Senior
Grace Sullivan

Grace Sullivan

5' 4"
Senior
Kasey Thomas

Kasey Thomas

5' 11"
Graduate Student
Lois Warden

Lois Warden

5' 6"
Senior
Jayden Stygar

Jayden Stygar

4' 11"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Aliya Barrows

Aliya Barrows

5' 4"
Graduate Student
Ana Bertarelli

Ana Bertarelli

5' 5"
Senior
Marissa Crowley

Marissa Crowley

5' 8"
Senior
Ethan Ferraiola

Ethan Ferraiola

5' 6"
Senior
Aidan Hickey

Aidan Hickey

6' 2"
Senior
Nolan Hickey

Nolan Hickey

6' 2"
Senior
Nicholas Mirecki

Nicholas Mirecki

5' 10"
Senior
William Remkiewicz

William Remkiewicz

5' 11"
Senior
Grace Sullivan

Grace Sullivan

5' 4"
Senior
Kasey Thomas

Kasey Thomas

5' 11"
Graduate Student
Lois Warden

Lois Warden

5' 6"
Senior
Jayden Stygar

Jayden Stygar

4' 11"
Sophomore