Albany has been chosen to win the America East Men’s Indoor Track and Field Championship, according to a vote of the conference’s coaches. The Great Danes received seven of eight possible first-place votes (coaches were not permitted to vote for their own team) and 63 points overall. The University of New Hampshire followed closely behind with two first-place votes and 56 points. Complete Poll
UMBC (51 points) ranked in at third, followed by Boston University (40) Binghamton University (37), University of Maine (30), Stony Brook University (20), University of Vermont (18) and University of Hartford (9) rounded out the nine-team poll.
Albany will have a strong group of seniors at the top this season. Head coach Roberto Vives will have Stephan Evans, Gered Burns and Robbie Freeman leading running events while Kamar Elliot is the team’s top jumper. Sophomore Michael Lynch is the team’s strongest thrower after finishing third in the shot-put last season.
New Hampshire will feature top performers from all classes this season. Senior’s shot-putter Erik Lundquist, junior middle-distance runner Travis Parker, sophomore jumper James Myles and distance runner Evan Bercume will combine to lead the Wildcats.
UMBC returns the two-time defending indoor 55m-dash champion in Adam Grossman and Izudin Mehmedovic, last season's one mile champion. Other top scorers will be Mike Zyvoloski in the throws along with Chris Baumler (middle distance ), Andre Felton (sprints) and Nathan Dixon (pole vault).
Boston U. will once again host the conference championship this winter, making it 17 out of 18 years. Returning for the Terriers are Dan Ruch, the 2005 Championship's Most Outstanding Rookie, and Nick Goodman, individual champion in the 500 meter run. Boston U. finished in sixth place last season.
Binghamton returns eight seniors to the lineup this season, including Hasani Hampden, Paddy Hennessy, Luke Shafer and Adam Goldberg. The Bearcats will hope to improve their fifth-place finish from last season. The third-, fourth- and fifth-place teams were only separated by 8.5 points.
Maine’s distance runners will be a large part of the team’s success this season. Junior’s Kirby Daivs and Eric Libby and seniors Paul Rupprecht and Jeff Caron will look to lead the team in scoring. Junior Chris Warren will be the top high jumper.
Stony Brook sophomore Justin Miller is the team’s top thrower, placing second in the shot put last season. Shaun Krawitz will be the teams top runner in the distance events after a successful cross country season.
Vermont returns Sean Steinhagen this season. The junior middle distance runner placed fourth in the 1000 meter run last season and earned all-conference honors. The Catamounts have two seniors on their roster.
Hartford senior Chris Spivey will be a key returnee for the Hawks this season. Spivey finished sixth in the 100-meter dash and seventh in the 200-meter dash.