The University of Maine track and field team competed at the Jim Kavanagh Legacy Invitational hosted by Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, on April 18. The Black Bears placed fifth overall with a total of 29 points.
The meet featured strong performances across several events for Maine. In the relay races, the team of Addison Nelson, Abby Rodriquenz, Kara Tschida, and Meredith Walters secured seventh place in the 4×400 relay with a time of 4:08.69. Another relay squad consisting of Maddie Cyr, Cassidy Novicka, Catherine Primavera and Bayleigh Shanahan finished eighth with a time of 4:14.28.
In individual sprints, Bayleigh Shanahan took fifth place in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.62 seconds. Maddie Chaput and Callie Tennett followed in eleventh and thirteenth positions respectively. For the 200 meters, Catherine Primavera finished tenth while Shanahan and Cyr came twelfth and thirteenth.
Maddie Cyr led Maine’s efforts in the 400 meters by finishing fifth at just under one minute (59.90), followed closely by Primavera (sixth) and Novicka (eighth). Meredith Walters was Maine’s top finisher in the women’s 800 meters at fifth place with Toni Vaillancourt taking thirteenth and Addison Nelson seventeenth.
Distance events saw Natalie Johnson claim second place in the women’s 5000 meters clocking a time of 17:55.17; Grace Lambert was close behind for fifth position.
In field events, Saphryn Humason placed sixth in long jump while Maddie Chaput earned eighth place finishes as well. Athena Cusson represented Maine solo in shot put to finish ninth overall.
Throwing disciplines included Sabine Sites finishing seventh and Riley Gavigan eleventh in discus; Ava Zollars reached fourth position while Sites took sixth—and Gavigan eleventh—in hammer throw competition. Zollars also competed individually for seventh place in javelin.
The Black Bears are scheduled to compete next at the Penn Relays starting Thursday April 23.
