WESTFIELD, Mass. (April 13, 2025) – On Sunday, the track and field team was in Westfield, Massachusetts, for the Jerry Gravel Invitational. The Golden Bears put up stellar performances at the invitational, with Matt Provost placing first in the men's 5,000m race and thirteen other athletes placing in the top three of their respective events.
Place:
Women's Team: No Team Score
Men's Team: No Team Score
How it Happened:
The track and field team participated in the Jerry Gravel Invitational for the first time in program history. They saw many top performances. In the field, Dominick Burack and Jaxon Smith would both place in the top 6 in the men's javelin throw event. Burack placed fourth with a throw of 41.74m, and Smith placed sixth with a throw of 34.56m. Then, Kayla Kyles and Imani Brown-Taylor continued their excellence in the women's long jump event. Kyles placed third with a jump of 5.01m, and Brown-Taylor placed fourth with a jump of 4.99m. Ike Ogbonnanaze and Ja'Naz Williams both put up top 6 performances in the men's shot-put event. Ogbonnanaze placed second with a throw of 13.35m, and Williams placed sixth with a throw of 11.92m. Lauren Ayotte made it into the top six with a sixth-place finish and a throw of 24.65m. Nolan Palmer placed in the top five in the men's high jump. Palmer placed fifth with a jump of 1.70m. The men's triple jump saw two Golden Bears place in the top six. Dennis Kotee placed fourth in the event with a jump of 12.54m, and Steel Land jumped 12.30m for a placement of sixth. Imani Brown-Taylor placed third in the women's triple jump with a jump of 10.21m. Kayla Kyles also placed in the top 6 in the women's triple jump with a jump of 9.63m, which placed Kyles in sixth. Ike Ogbonnanaze placed sixth in the men's discus event. Ogbonnanaze threw a long throw of 37.37m to earn that placement.
The runners on the track did just as well as the throwers. The men's 3,000m steeple chase saw three Golden Bears place in the top 5. Joshua Farrell led the pack with a second-place finish at a time of 10:50.56. Then, Frank Kelly finished fourth with a time of 11:39.56, and John Bieszczad placed fifth with a time of 11:39.87. The men's 4x100m team of Jason Pratt, Amari Blake, Dennis Kotee, and Alex Maurer finished third in the event with a time of 44.30. The women's 4x100m team of Emma Ellis, Kayla Kyles, Fallon Lynch, and Gabrielle Minuti placed second with a time of 56.27. The men's 1,500m saw two Golden Bears in the top 6. Matt Provost earned third place with a time of 4:22.93. Austin Vale da Serra placed sixth with a time of 4:32.16. Dennis Kotee, Jack Straut, and Nolan Moore competed in the men's 110m hurdles and placed in the top 5. Kotee came in third with a time of 17.09, Jack Straut placed fourth with a time of 17.22, and Nolan Moore earned fifth place with a time of 18.50. Jordie Morgan continued to excel with a 400m time of 51.70, which placed Morgan third in the men's 400m event. Fallon Lynch placed fourth in the women's 400m 1:04.55. Dennis Kotee and Amari Blake both placed in the top 6 of the men's 100m race. Kotee ran a time of 11.60 and got third place. Blake ran a time of 11.82m and earned sixth place. Kayla Kyles and Gabrielle Minuti placed fourth and sixth in the women's 100m race. Kyles ran a time of 13.54, and Minuti ran a 14.26. Nicholas Smith ran a fourth-place finish in the 800m race with a time of 2:04.05. Then, two Golden Bears placed in the top 6 of the 400m hurdles. Nolan Palmer placed third in the event with a time of 1:00.53. Jack Straut finished in fourth with a time of 1:00.71. Gabrielle Minuti ran a third-place finish in the women's 400m hurdles. Minuti earned a final time of 1:23.18. Jordie Morgan ran a time of 23.03 in the 200m race. That placed Morgan in fourth in that race. Fallon Lynch also placed fourth in the women's 200m race. Lynch ran a time of 27.50 to place fourth in that event. Matt Provost placed first in the 5,000m race. Provost won the race with a time of 16:31.58. Then, Olivia Kay and Caitlin Reilly placed in the top 6 for the women's 5,000m race. Kay placed fourth with a time of 20:30.84. Reilly ran a time of 21:17.08 to place sixth. Nolan Moore, Jordie Morgan, Nicholas Smith, and Nolan Palmer would run a 3:31.85 in the men's 4x400m relay to place second. WNE had another team place in the top 6 in the men's 4x400m race, with Jack Straut, Jerzyon Harrison-Durley, Aidan Cooney, and Amari Blake placing fifth with a time of 3:38.43. No team scores were given for the invitational, so no team placement was awarded.
Up Next on the Schedule:
The Golden Bears are back in action on Friday, April 18, 2025, at 10:00 AM, in Willimantic, Connecticut, when the teams participate in the Bonnie Edmondson Classic hosted by Eastern Connecticut State University.
