CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (February 23, 2025) – The Men's and Women's Track and Field teams competed for the first time in the program's history. In their inaugural meet, the Golden Bears had Steel Land place second overall in the men's triple jump and sixth overall in the men's long jump. Ike Ogbonnanze placed third overall in the men's shot put event, and Kayla Kyles placed 6th in the women's long jump. Two WNE relays also placed in the top three overall. A great start for the Golden Bears!

Place:

Women's Team: NTS

Men's Team: NTS

How it Happened:

After months and months of preparation and excitement for the first-ever Men's and Women's Track and Field meet, the day finally arrived. The team traveled to Cambridge, Massachusetts, for the USATF New England Indoor Track and Field Championships, which hosted a mix of outdoor and indoor track and field teams. Several Golden Bears took to the track and field to make history for the Golden Bears. Freshman Steel Land was a Golden Bear jumper who made history by placing in the men's triple jump and men's long jump for WNE. Land would place second in the men's triple jump with a best mark of 12.22. Then, Land would place sixth overall in the men's long jump with a best mark of 5.94. Ike Ogbonnanze competed for the Golden Bears as a thrower and competed in the men's shot put event. Ogbonnanze made history for WNE by placing third overall in the men's shot put event with a best mark of 13.19.

The Men's 4x400m relay team made history for the Golden Bears, being the first WNE men's relay team to place top three in a meet. The relay team of Nolan Moore, Nolan Palmer, Jerzyon Harrison-Durley, and Jack Straut would run a time of 3:43.73, which placed the team second. Straut ran down the relay team from Suffolk University in the last 100 meters to help WNE grab second place. The Women's Distance Medley Relay made history by being the first women's relay team to place in the top three at a meet. The relay team of Caitlin Reilly, Fallon Lynch, Nina Garofalo, and Olivia Kay earned a time of 14:53.36, which earned the team third place in the event.

Alex Maurer and Kayla Kyles were also highlighted in the meet as Maurer ran the men's 60m dash in 7.28 seconds and placed 16th out of 63 runners in the event. Maurer also competed in the men's 200m dash and finished with a time of 23.91, placing Maurer in 29th out of 73 runners in the event. Kayla Kyles ran the women's 60m dash and finished with a time of 8.43, placing Kyles in 16th place out of 32 runners in the event. Kyles also competed in the women's 200m dash, running a time of 28.45 in the race and placing 24th out of 48 runners in the event. Kyles competed in a field event, as well. It was the women's long jump event. Kyles finished in sixth place in the event with a best mark of 4.99m.

Coach's Corner:
Head coach Jon Harris was asked for a quote on the team's first-ever meet. "It was an exciting day, getting to see the result of all the hard work put in at practice and behind the scenes for the last year. Everyone in today's meet competed hard and represented WNE with pride. I think we showed some real potential today and I am looking forward to seeing what we can do when outdoor meets roll around next month. It was a solid start, but we all know how much work is still left to do. Finally getting to see a WNE track team in action was amazing. But now we are focused on the next meet and how much we can improve from here," Harris stated.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• The Golden Bears will be back in action on March 29, 2025, at 10:00 AM when they travel to Somerville, Massachusetts, for the Snowflake Classic hosted by Tufts University.