RESULTS

KINGSTON, R.I.—After the first day of competition at the URI Heptathlon hosted by Rhode Island, freshman Luke Stelmach (Sterling, Mass.) sits in ninth place after four events with 2,541 points.
 
"Luke had a good start to his first heptathlon. He showed some composure and was able to put together some good attempts in his first four events," remarked associate head coach Allyson Waruch. "We are looking forward to day two starting with his strongest event, the hurdles."
 
The River Hawk rookie kicked off the day in the men's 60-meter dash, crossing the finish line in 7.43 to earn sixth overall. In the tight race for the top-10, Stelmach edged out runners from Rhode Island and Sacred Heart to claim sixth in his first-ever collegiate attempt at the sprint event.
 
Shifting gears towards the field events, Stelmach took on the long jump for ­­­his second event of the weekend. After hitting 5.59m in his first attempt, the freshman leapt to a 5.83m mark to earn 550 points and finish 11th. The 5.83m jump marks a career-best mark for the freshman after registering his first-ever jump last weekend at Brown.
 
Stelmach continued his strong day one showing into event three, the shot put. After hitting 9.61m in his second attempt, the freshman recorded a 10m toss to secure seventh overall. Stelmach just narrowly missed the top five, coming just 2cm short of Rhode Island's Ryan Tona.
 
Wrapping up the day on a high note, Stelmach closed out the first half of the heptathlon with an impressive third-place performance in the high jump. The Massachusetts native cleared 1.86m to bring in 679 points in his final event of the day.
 
Stelmach finishes the two-day heptathlon on Friday, Dec. 10, as he takes on the 60-meter hurdles, the pole vault and the 1,000-meter run. He will be joined by fellow freshman Fleur Balogh de Galantha (Grafton, Mass.) and sophomore Rebecca Crosier (Shaftsbury, Vt.), who will be representing the River Hawks in the indoor pentathlon