WEST HARTFORD, Conn. (April 6, 2025) – The Golden Bears had a quick turnaround from Saturday's Jim Sheehan Invitational to Sunday's Rage in the Cage event in West Hartford, Connecticut. The Golden Bears placed four in the top 8 in the field events and eight individuals during the track events, with two relays placing in the top four. The men's team finished the invitational in fifth place, and the women's team finished in seventh.
Place:
Women's Team: 7th/8
Men's Team: 5th/8
How it Happened:
The Golden Bears showed up to compete in the Rage in the Cage event for the first time in program history. The field events saw four Golden Bears earn points for the team. Lauren Ayotte would get the Golden Bears points in the women's Javelin Throw event with an eighth-place finish. Ayotte threw a best throw of 26.15m. Dominic Burack would also place eighth in the men's Javelin Throw event. Burack had a best throw of 40.77m. Ike Ogbonnanaze would throw in the men's Discus event. Ogbonnanaze would throw a best distance of 38.99m, earning fifth place in the event. Ogbonnanaze would also throw in the men's shot put event. Ogbonnanaze would finish ninth in the event, throwing a best throw of 13.09m, earning the Golden Bears more points. Kayla Kyles had another great performance in the women's long jump, placing fourth with a jump of 4.96m. The throwers and jumpers would combine for 17 points between men and women.
The runners on the track had a good day, as well. Eight runners would earn points for the Golden Bears, with two relay teams also grabbing points. The women's 4x100m relay team would pick up six points for the team by placing third in the relay with a time of 52.12. The relay team consisted of Gabrielle Minuti, Fallon Lynch, Imani Brown-Taylor, and Kayla Kyles. Olivia Kay would place eighth in the women's 1500m race, earning a point for the team. Kay ran a time of 5:39.15 to solidify the top 8 finish. Fallon Lynch placed sixth in the women's 400m race with a final time of 1:05.88, earning three points for the team. Nolan Palmer and Aiden Cooney would earn points for WNE in the men's 400m race.
Palmer ran a time of 51.95 and placed third in the race. Cooney would run a time of 54.34 and earn ninth place. Nina Garofalo placed sixth in the women's 800m race for the Golden Bears, picking up three more points for the team with a time of 2:42.82. Then, Nicholas Smith would place seventh in the men's 800m with a final time of 2:06.73. Fallon Lynch raced the women's 200m and placed seventh with a time of 28.25 to earn the Golden Bears some more points. Then, Amari Blake and Nolan Palmer would place seventh and eighth in the men's 200m. Blake earned a time of 23.73 and two points. Palmer ran a time of 23.84, which scored a point for WNE. The men's 4x400m relay would finish out the point scoring for the Golden Bears as the team of Nicholas Smith, Nolan Palmer, Jack Straut, and Matt Provost earned a time of3:42.93, which placed the team fourth in the race and earned the team four points. The two Golden Bear teams earned a combined 48 points during the Rage in the Cage event hosted by the University of Hartford.
Up Next on the Schedule:
The Golden Bears will be back in action on Saturday, April 12, 2025, in Westfield, Massachusetts, for the Jerry Gravel Invitational. Westfield State University will host this meet on Jerry Gravel Track at Alumni Field.
