The University of Rhode Island women’s track and field team traveled to Providence College to compete in the Friar Invitational on Friday, a day where the conditions were bitter and rainy.

“I was just trying to finish the race and be done,” third-year Lily Saul said. “It was a cold and rainy day.”

Saul competed in the mile for URI and finished in seventh place out of 60 participants. She finished with a time of 4:50.74, which was within 0.79 seconds of three other girls. Saul finished behind third-year Emily Mrakovcic from Brown University, who finished in fifth with a time of 4:50.19, and third-year Mary-Kate Finn from the University of Massachusetts Lowell, who finished in sixth with a time of 4:50.38. Saul did beat out second-year Kiera Hall right at the line, who finished in eighth with a time of 4:50.98.

“I did think I could have done better,” Saul said. “I was just glad to finish in these conditions, and I am happy with my time.”

The mile is something that has not been a part of any outdoor meets so far this season. The Friar Invitational had the mile, and URI took advantage of the experience.

“This is the first time we ran the outdoor mile,” URI Head Coach Laurie Feit-Melnick said. “You don’t see the outdoor mile often, and [this meet] was an exception.”

A pair of Rams who had strong performances were fourth-year Sophia Piccone and third-year Lindsey Arends, who came in sixth and 11th, respectively, out of 25 participants in the 3,000-meter. Piccone finished with a time of 10:12.94, and Arends finished with a time of 10:22.66.

Second-year Madeline Till competed in the invitational 800-meter for the Rams and finished in 15th place with a time of 2:16.54.

Rhody had four more girls compete in the open 800-meter, starting with fourth-year Lindsay Turgeon, who came in 11th with a time of 2:18.64. Right behind Turgeon was her teammate, fifth-year Carollin Mellin, who came in 12th with a time of 2:19.13. Second-year Lilly Pittakas crossed the finish line in 24th place with a time of 2:21.25, and behind her was teammate third-year Zoe Catrambone, who came in 25th with a time of 2:21.40.

With just a couple weeks before the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship, the preparation has begun to ramp up for the URI women’s track and field team.

“We have got two weeks to prepare for who’s going to the A-10 Championships,” Feit-Melnick said. “So we only got one more meet, and only a few people will be going to [the] Penn Relays.”

The URI Women’s Track and Field team will look to continue to build off its individual and team performances as it travels to the University of Connecticut Northeast Challenge and the College of the Holy Cross Invitational this weekend.

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