Week #2 Indoor Track and Field Release (PDF)
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – University of Maine sophomores Corey Conner (Townsend, Mass./North Middlesex Regional) and Jesse Labreck (Oakland, Maine/Messalonskee) led the Black Bear women’s squad to victory over the University of New Hampshire and garner the female Track and Field Performer of the Week awards, respectively. New Hampshire graduate student Jeff Kaste (Atkinson, N.H./Timberlane) led the Wildcat men to a three-point victory over Maine and captures the male Field Performer of the Week while Maine sophomore Riley Masters (Bangor, Maine/Bangor), who led the Black Bears in their fight against UNH, earns the male Track Performer of the Week award for the week ending December 13.
Conner claimed one individual and one relay title on Saturday to lead the Maine women to a win over UNH. Conner won the 3,000m in an ECAC-qualifying time of 9:54.35, which puts her atop the America East performance list. Conner also anchored the 4x880 relay that won with a time of 9:43.98.
Labreck posted two individual victories against the Wildcats. In the high jump, Labreck won with an ECAC-qualifying jump of 1.72m. She also placed first in the 55m hurdles with a school-record and ECAC-qualifying time of 8:18. Labreck broke the school-record of 8.22 set by 2008 Olympian Viktoriya Rybalko in 2003.
Kaste led the Wildcat men to a three-point victory over Maine on Saturday, recording two top-two finishes. Kaste won the weight throw with an IC4A-qualifying distance of 17.94m. He also holds the top spot in the conference standings for the event. In the shot put, Kaste finished second with a throw of 15.19m.
Earning two titles, Masters fought in Maine’s close loss to UNH. Masters won the 3,000m in an IC4A-qualifying time of 8:20.87. He tops the performance list in the event by over 20 seconds. To earn his second win of the meet, Masters anchored the victorious 4x880 relay that won in a time of 3:15.76.
Indoor Track and Field Performers of the Week will return on January 12.
Albany – The Great Danes men’s and women’s squads, which were predicted by the preseason coaches’ poll to finish first and second, respectively, at the conference championship, will begin their season on Friday, January 8 at the Carleton Crowell Open.
Binghamton – The underclassmen turned in strong performances for the Bearcats at the Cornell Relays in their only 2009 meet. Binghamton will return to action at the Syracuse Invitational on Saturday, January 16.
Boston U. – The Terriers competed at the Harvard Open on Saturday. Sophomore Tewado Latty (White Plains, N.Y.) led the Boston U. men, placing third in the 200m dash with an IC4A-qualifying time of 22.21. Latty also tops the America East performance list in the 200m. Freshman Logan Moore and senior Jan Bicanic (Zagreb, Croatia) captured two other third-place finishes for the Terriers in the pole vault and shot put, respectively. Bicanic claims second in the conference standings in the shot put. Junior Jen Fleser (Warwick, R.I.) was the only female Terrier to compete at the meet. Fleser finished sixth in the weight throw with a toss of 14.19m. Boston U. will start the 2010 portion of its season when it hosts a multi-team meet on January 14.
Hartford – The Hawks competed against Vermont in their sole 2009 meet. The Hawks fell to the Catamounts, but will look to rebound when they return to action on January 23 at the Wesleyan Invitational.
Maine – The Black Bears women’s team defeated New Hampshire while the men’s squad lost by three points. Jesse Labreck, senior Tanya Simard (North Bay, Ontario/Algonquin) and Corey Conner turned in strong performances for the women, each posting two wins at the meet. Labreck placed first in the high jump with a leap of 1.72m and won the 55m hurdles with a time of 8.18. In both events, Labreck posted scores qualifying her for the ECAC meet. Labreck also tops the performance list in the high jump. Simard claimed her two titles in the long jump and the pentathlon. Simard won the long jump with a distance of 5.44m and scored 3,344 points to claim the pentathlon. Conner captured the 3,000m run in 9:54.35 and anchored the 4x880 that raced to victory in 9:43.98. Conner tops the performance list and posted an ECAC-qualifying time in the 3,000m run. On the men’s side, Riley Masters led the Black Bears with two first-place finishes. Masters won the 3,000m in 8:20.87 and anchored the 4x880 relay that won in 8:15.76. Masters tops the performance list in the 3,000m and posted an IC4A-qualifying time at the meet against UNH. Freshmen Jamie Ruginski (Buxton, Maine/Bonny Eagle), James Reed (Garmisch, Germany/Munich International) and senior Skip Edwards (Portland, Maine/Portland) also captured wins for the Black Bears. Ruginski placed first in the long jump with a leap of 6.75m while Edwards won the 500m and Reed placed first in the 55m hurdles. Edwards posted an IC4A-qualifying mark in the 500m, crossing the finish line in 1:04.87. Maine next competes against Dartmouth on January 16.
UMBC – Four Retrievers from the men’s squad competed at the Kent State Golden Flash Gala in the heptathlon on Saturday. Junior Keith Onto (Point Pleasant, N.J./Point Pleasant Boro/St. Francis (PA)) broke a UMBC record in the heptathlon, placing third with 5,238 points. Onto broke the previous school record of 5,052 points, which he set in 2007. His score also qualifies him for the IC4A meet in March. Senior Dominic Devaud (Baltimore, Md./Archbishop Curley) followed Onto, placing fourth with an IC4A-qualifying score of 5,090. Senior Michael Buccheri (Hazlet, N.J./Raritan/Monmouth) placed 12th in the event followed by junior Martin Nevarez (Casa Grande, Ariz./Central Arizona College), who earned 16th place. Both UMBC squads will be back in action on January 9 at the Gulden Relays.
New Hampshire – The Wildcats men’s squad recorded a win over Maine while the women fell to the Black Bears. Sophomore Bill Godfrey (Merrimack, N.H./Merrimack) captured a pair of wins on Saturday, helping the 4x400 relay win in a time of 3:25.22 and capturing an individual title in the 800m in 1:58.15. Godfrey tops the performance list in the 800m. Jeff Kaste also posted two top finishes, winning the weight throw with an IC4A-qualifying toss of 17.94m and then finishing second in the shot put behind teammate junior Brice Paey (Milton, N.H./St. Thomas), who threw an IC4A-qualifying toss of 16.27m to win the event. Senior Marc Ouellette (Hopkinton, N.H./Hopkinton) also claimed a title for the men, winning the mile in 4.24.79 and beating out teammate senior Wes Dinnan (Juneau, Alaska/Juneau-Douglas), who tops the conference standings in the event. Ouellette takes over the second spot in the performance list. On the women’s side, senior Ashlee Lathrop (Sherburne, N.Y./Sherburne-Earlville) captured a pair of titles. Lathrop won the weight throw with a toss of 15.64m and also won the shot put with a distance of 10.72m. Abigail Jenkins captured a third title for the Wildcats, placing first in the pole vault clearing a height of 3.20m. On the track for the women, junior Brittany Verville (Bow, N.H./Bow) claimed a title in the 500m in a time of 1:19.04. The Wildcats return on January 23 when they host Holy Cross and Quinnipiac to being their 2010 schedule.
Stony Brook – The Seawolves squads began their 2009-10 season at Fordham where they captured 15 top-five finishes. After a break for the holidays, Stony Brook will return to action at the NYU Invitational on January 15.
Vermont – Beginning their season with a sweep of Hartford, the Catamounts next compete at Rhode Island on Friday, January 15.