Clear blue skies and vibrant sunshine belied the cold and windy weather that awaited the Blue Hens at the Lloyd Sigler Spring Meet in Salisbury, MD. Despite the ferocious gusts of wind and frigid temperatures, the team had an impressive showing for this season’s first outdoor meet. Full results can be found here.

Alexa Saldida dominated in the field events by claiming her rightful position as number one on the all-time list in discus (26.22m) and shot put (8.50m) and number two in javelin (26.46m). 

Although the intense wind made the individual sprint events ineligible for our all-time lists, (there was a recorded wind factor of 4.9 during these events, anything about 2.0 is considered “illegal”) Brittany Georges and Hannah Eleutheriou obliterated the 200-meter dash, going 1-2 in times of 28.80 and 29.14, respectfully. 

Eleutheriou also placed first in the 100 with a time of 13.53 and led her 4×100 team (Brittany Georges, Jenna Jackson, Kat Sigafoos, Hannah Eleutheriou) to a shiny number 1 spot on the all-time list in 55.52. Sigafoos went on to come in 2nd for the 400, ultimately earning her the #5 spot on our all-time performance list with a time of 1:07.34. 

In the men’s 1500 meter run, newcomer Kyle Owino blasted onto the scene in a second-place finish of 4:44.51, while Gerald Brady (5:01.96) and Jacob Henry (5:04.7) crossed not far behind for 6th and 7th place. Sophomore Lorenzo Andaya made his mark in the men’s 800 by winning his heat and coming in fourth overall with a speedy time of 2:11.27. 

The distance women put significant manpower into the 5k, as the entire race consisted of 7 finishers girls—and 5 of them were Blue Hens. Talia Brookstein-Burke came in first with a time of 20:09.19, ultimately improving her #10 spot on the all-time list. The rest of the team followed in rapid succession, with Emily Magoon (20:11.59) taking 2nd, Abigail Kaye (20:12.07) taking 3rd, Elise LaFramboise (20:36.48) taking 4th, and Madeline Dorley (21:03.03) claiming 5th! 

The men’s 5k continued the Blue Hen distance power, with Michael Murphy coming in 2nd with a time of 17:09.79 and John Papadopoulos taking 4th in 18:22.72.

Up next for the Hens is the Haddonfield Adrenaline 5k in Haddonfield, NJ. This competitive road race draws runners from across the East Coast and promises to bring good competition and St. Patty’s Day cheer.