CASSIDY HERMAN
Special to the Leader
AVRIL KING
Social Media Manager and Assistant Sports Editor
The past two weekends were exciting ones for the women’s indoor track and field team — especially for Mikayla Capestrani and Brittany Feldman.
Capestrani came off an injury she endured recently and was still able to break some records.
“It feels good knowing that I could come back from an injury that I had last semester and still achieve my goal of 12 feet and continue to see progress being made in my vaults,” she said.
Capestrani established a new school record in the women’s indoor pole vault during the Dragon Grand Prix in Tiffin, Ohio, on Saturday, Feb. 10. The new record scored Capestrani third place.
The Jamestown native has received numerous SUNYAC academic honors and has made the dean’s list three times. Aside from her outstanding academic honors, Capestrani has also been named Fredonia Athlete of the Week two weeks in a row.
To set Fredonia’s school record in the women’s outdoor pole vault, Capestrani had to go two inches higher than Julia Schreier and Olivia Kurbs. Schreier and Kurbs had previously held the record at 11 feet, 5 ¾ inches. On Feb. 10, Capestrani cleared 11 feet, 7 ¾ inches, to take over as the record holder.
“It is amazing to have teammates competing alongside with me. They are always there to cheer me on and pick me up when I feel discouraged,” said Capestrani. “Our pole vault group is like a little family. We are all so close and will always be there for each other.”
Along with the new record, Capestrani also moved up to No. 22 on the NCAA Division III women’s indoor track and field performance list.
“To achieve my goals, I just need to be confident that my body is capable of jumping these heights, and I need to trust the process and have trust in my coaches,” she said.
The following weekend at the Cornell University’s Marc Deneault Invitational, Capestrani topped her own record. She broke the school pole vault record for the second straight meet.
“It’s a great feeling when you finally reach one of your own personal goals,” she said.
After her performance on Feb. 17, Capestrani moved from No. 22 to No. 16.
“To me this is amazing and one of my all time track goals is to go to nationals,” she said. “They take the top 17 women in each event, so as of right now I am going to nationals, but there are still two weeks between now and the national meet where things could change and I could get pushed down farther on the list and bumped out of nationals. So as of right now my next goal for myself is to try and clear the next height to better my chances of going to nationals.”
Capestrani cleared four inches higher than she did at the Dragon Grand Prix meet. With her 11 feet, 11 3/4 inches pole vault, she finished second at Cornell.
Capestrani also surpassed fellow senior Kristen Sawyer on the Fredonia career vault list. Sawyer cleared 11 feet, 5 1/4 inches during a 2016 meet.
“My next goal is to make nationals whether it be for this indoor season or for outdoor. Before I graduate I would like to say that I have gone to at least one national meet,” she said.
As for Feldman, she also had a successful weekend at Cornell, which earned her a spot as Fredonia Athlete of the Week.
“The atmosphere at Cornell is intense because it is a Division I meet. I love it, and I love the pressure it brings,” she said.
Also from Jamestown, the sprinter was able to beat her own 2015 school record in the 300 meters, taking off 1.33 seconds.
Feldman finished third overall in the event, coming in behind two women from Cornell.
“I feel that I performed very well at Cornell,” she said. “I was very excited that I re-broke my school record. I haven’t had the best season this year, so it was refreshing to run well and feel happy about racing again.”
Over the past weekend, the two athletes were able to travel to the SUNYAC Indoor Championships, held at SUNY Brockport.
Feldman finished Friday, Feb. 23 in first place in the 400 meters and fourth in the 200 meters. Both times earned her slots in the finals, which were held the following day. In the 400 finals round, she took second place and went on to take fourth place in the finals for the 200 meters.
Capestrani also had another successful weekend at Brockport, taking fourth place in the women’s pole vault on Friday.