Albany has been selected as the preseason favorite to win the America East Men’s Indoor Track and Field Championship, according to a vote of the conference’s head coaches. The Great Danes received all eight first-place votes (coaches were not permitted to vote for their own team), tallying 64 points. The University of New Hampshire took one first-place vote in its second-place standing with 55 points.
Boston University (47 points) came in at third, followed closely by UMBC (44) and Binghamton University (39). University of Maine (22), Stony Brook University (19), University of Vermont (18) and University of Hartford (9) rounded out the nine-team poll.
Albany looks to repeat coming off last year’s championship title. Head coach Roberto Vives will rely on some of his underclassmen for top performances. UA returns last year’s 200-meter dash winner, sophomore Pat Weider (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport), and classmate Joe Greene (Rochester, N.Y./Edison), who finished second in the 400-meter dash. Senior Ricardo Estremera (San Juan, Puerto Rico/University) should be strong in the distance events, while sophomore Freddie Wills (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) will lead the Great Danes in jumping events.
New Hampshire will be led by its senior class in the 2006-07 season. Senior Tristan Hall (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) will lead the jumping events after winning last year’s long jump. Middle-distance runner Travis Parker (Fairfax, Va.) returns after finishing second in the 200-meter dash. Junior Matt Russell (Ogdensburg, N.Y./Canton)
will return as another top runner for the Wildcats. Throwers Josh Edwards (Pelham,N.H.) and Reed Liset (Dover, N.H./Dover) could earn points in several field events.
Boston U. will be anchored by its runners with senior Matt Howard (San Antonio, Texas) coming off a 400-meter dash first-place finish Junior David Proctor (Rochdale, England) also finished first in the 1000-meter run.
UMBC returns top finishers in Aaron James (Glen Dale, Md./Duval), first-place in the 55-meter hurdles, and Mike Zyvoloski (Elkridge, Md./Long Reach), first-place in the weight throw.
Binghamton will rely on underclassmen in both running and throwing events. Sophomore Justin Halleck (DePew, N.Y./Lancaster) finished third in last years’ weight throw, while classmate Jimmy Massar (Johnson City, N.Y./Johnson City)
ran to a fourth-place finish in the 400-meter dash.
Maine looks to seniors Kirby Davis (Falmouth, Maine/Falmouth), Eric Libby (Hampden, Maine/Hampden Academy), and Keith Corey (Scarborough, Maine/Scarborough) for leadership. Davis finished fifth in the 5000-meter run, while Libby was third in the 500-meter dash and Corey came in 10
th in the weight throw.
Stony Brook junior Justin Miller (Smithtown, N.Y./Hauppauge) returns as the team’s top thrower having finished fourth in the shot put last season. Shawn Krawitz (Auckland, New Zealand/Auckland University)
returns as the Seawolves’ top distance runner.
Vermont returns Sean Steinhagen (Portland, Maine /Deering). Steinhagen led last year’s team with a second-place finish in the 1000-meter run.
Hartford has a key runner in senior Philip Weinholtz (Windsor, Conn./Watkinson), who finished 10th last season in the one mile run.
The 2007 America East Indoor Track & Field Championships will be held at Boston University Track & Tennis Center on February 16-17.
Complete Poll:
1. Albany (8) 64
2. New Hampshire (1) 55
3. Boston U. 47
4. UMBC 44
5. Binghamton 39
6. Maine 22
7. Stony Brook 19
8. Vermont 18
9. Hartford 9