SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Led by freshmen Nicole Dempsey (Norwell, Mass.) and Toren O'Leary (Luxembourg), and junior Katelyn Kelleher (Wrentham, Mass.), the Bryant University men's and women's track and field teams opened up the 2013 outdoor season with a successful showing at the Stony Brook University Quad Meet.
On the afternoon, the men defeated Hartford, 74-34, and Providence, 58-43. They lost to the host Seawolves, 61-53. The women defeated Hartford, 57-49, and lost to Providence, 64-43, and Stony Brook, 76-32.
In her first collegiate outdoor meet, Dempsey shined for the Black and Gold on Wednesday. She won the long jump with a distance of 5.22m and finished second in the 100m dash with a time of 12.92. Kelleher was also dominant, winning the discus with a throw of 36.24m and the hammer with a toss of 38.33m.
Several other Bulldogs started their outdoor seasons strong on Wednesday. Freshman Kalima Camara (United Arab Emirates) finished third in the long jump (4.85m) and classmate Kristen Hayes (Menands, N.Y.) finished fifth in the 300m (43.09) and ninth in the 100m (13.42). Bryant's distance runners also performed well as sophomore Brooke Tomasetti (Waterford, Conn.) finished fifth in the 800m (2:21.36), and junior Martha Reynolds (London, England) and freshman Annmarie Tuxbury (New Hartford, Conn.) finished 3-4 in the 1500m (4:47.11 and 4:52.74).
On the men's side, O'Leary opened his first collegiate outdoor season with a victory in the 100m dash, crossing the line with a time of 11.25. O'Leary would later join junior Kyle Reid (North Raynham, Mass.), sophomore Nicholas Douglas (Shelton, Conn.) and sophomore Kevin Louine (Mattpan, Mass.) on the victorious 4x200m relay team. They won the event with a time of 1:30.64.
Reid and Douglas also had strong individual days as they finished neck-and-neck in the 100 and 300. Reid was second (11.43) and Douglas was fourth (11.54) in the 100, and Reid was third (36.21) and Douglas fourth (36.28) in the 300. Freshman Adam Malone (Speonk, N.Y.) finished second in the long jump (6.05m). Bryant also received first-place finishes from Brian Sullivan (Hingham, Mass.) and Nick Todman (Danbury, Conn.). Sullivan won the discus with a throw of 42.59m and Todman won the hammer with a toss of 46.48m. Todman also finished second in the discus (40.65m).
The Bulldogs return to the track next weekend when they compete in the George Davis Invitational hosted by UMass-Lowell in Lowell, Mass.
