The Ithaca College men’s and women’s track and field teams began the outdoor season competing at the Muhlenberg Invitational April 1 in Allentown, Pennsylvania. There was no team scoring at the meet.

The women’s squad completed the invitational with five first-place finishers. Senior Brandy Smith earned first-place honors in the shot put and discus events. She won the shot put event with a distance of 12.75 meters and the discus event with a distance of 43.46 meters.

Senior Katherine Pitman and freshman Beth Cripps captured the gold and silver in the pole vault event. Pitman topped Cripps’ height of 3.66 meters with her mark of 3.72 meters.

Juniors Taryn Cordani and Denise Ibarra took home the 5,000-meter and 3,000-meter race titles, respectively. Cordani crossed the finish line at 17:13.09 and Ibarra was clocked at 11:05.34.

In the 400-meter race, freshman Alexandria Rheaume zipped past Lafayette’s Kelly Reager for first place with a time of 58.65 seconds.

As for the men’s team, there were no first-place finishers, but multiple athletes recorded second and third-place recognitions.

Senior Sam Cherney’s toss of 45.74 meters in the discus event earned him one of those second-place finishes on the day. Muhlenberg senior Michael Havkins won with a distance of 47.72 meters.

Freshman Daniel Harden-Marshall came in second place when he bolted for a time of 22.64 seconds in the 200-meter dash. Lehigh sophomore Emre Soybas edged out Harden-Marshall with a time of 22.50 seconds. Oneonta freshman Sam Mahara finished in third with a time of 22.86 seconds.

With a time of 4:04.16 seconds, senior Sean Phillips captured the bronze in the 1,500-meter race. Muhlenberg sophomore Corey Mullins came in second with a time of 4:03.67, and Dickinson senior Mason Hepner finished in first with a time of 3:55.95.

Junior Seth Abbott was the third-place finisher in the 110-meter hurdles with his time of 16.58 seconds. He also finished third in the 400-meter hurdles event with a time of 57.97 seconds.

Lehigh junior Fritz Isaac was the second-place finisher with a time of 15.69 seconds. Moravian sophomore John Spirk, who also won the 400-meter hurdles event, out-hurdled the field with a time of 15.30 seconds.

In the pole vault event, freshman Joe Nally crossed the bar at 4.42 meters, which was the third-best height.

The Bombers’ “A” team, which consisted of Harden-Marshall, junior Gerardo Munoz-Celada, freshman Robert Greenwald and sophomore Derek Howes, was second-best in the 4×400 meter relay. Greenwald also finished third in the high jump with a leap of 1.83 meters.

Both teams will return to action at 10 a.m. April 8 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania for the Coach P Invitational.