WAUKESHA, Wis. — The Carthage College men's and women's track and field teams opened their 2021 outdoor season at the Carroll Alumni Invitational on Saturday, with the men placing fifth and the women in sixth at the Dennis Punches Track and Field Complex.

"It was certainly nice to get back to outdoor competition this year," said women's head coach Stephanie Domin. "The women had a strong showing in multiple events. The hard work they put in during the indoor season transitioned nicely today."

In the jumps, Aubrey Tesch picked up a first-place finish for the Carthage women's team after she was the only competitor to clear the bar at 1.53 meters in the high jump. Connor Bell would take fourth in the long jump, and Edelmar Morales-Rivera sixth for the men, while Ilana Milos placed eighth in the event for the women. In the pole vault, Julia Cozzi scored for Carthage with a seventh-place finish after clearing three meters.

Alex Pitrone scored for Carthage in the shot put with an eighth place finish on a mark of 14.12 meters, with Matthew Ausse and Diego Torrez placing sixth and seventh, respectively, in the hammer. After placing seventh in the women's hammer, Alexis Mattox won the women's shot put on a mark of 12.48 meters. In the javelin, Bell hit 45.99 meters on his third attempt to claim first place, with Tesch placing third for the women on a mark of 33.08 meters. In the discus, both Nicole Tarpley for the women and Joseph White for the men would take third, with Tarpley hitting a mark of 40.45 meters and White 43.12 meters.

On the track, Kerrigan Ballard got things started with a fourth place finish in the 1,500-meter run on a time of 5:11.86, while Lily Majestic took seventh. The men's team would put up a strong performance in the 400, led by Cody Canegan's first place finish with a time of 50.66 seconds, David Rogers in fourth, and Mason Tucker in fifth.

"We had a great outdoor season opener today despite it being a pretty damp and cool day," said men's head coach Josh Henry. "The event group that really stood out this afternoon was the 400 and 400 hurdle crew. Despite the cool weather we had several personal bests in that group and Cody took home a win in the 400. They came back later in the day and won the 4x400 meter relay, which was a great way to close off the meet."

Ballard would score once again for the Firebirds in the 800, after taking fifth. In his first outdoor collegiate meet, Justin Mbarushimana took third overall with a time of 1:01.87 in the 400-meter hurdles. In the 200, freshman Sarah Kerfin won her heat and took fifth overall on a time of 27.57 for the women, while Hugo Flores placed fifth overall with a time of 24.25 for the men. In the final event on the track, the 4x400-meter relay, the women took fourth place while the men won with a time of 3:31.01.

"Next week we are excited to compete at the Wisconsin Private College Championships and expect to put together a more complete meet in all events," said Henry.

The men's team scored a total of 69 points to place fifth among 11 teams, while the women took sixth after scoring 64.5 points.

Both teams will head to Milwaukee next Thursday for the Wisconsin Private College Championships.

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