CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – A pair of repeat indoor track and field weekly award recipients headline the conference honors for week two of the indoor season.
Stony Brook’s Lucy Van Dalen (Wanganui, New Zealand/Wanganui Collegiate) grabs Female Track Performer of the Week while New Hampshire’s Brice Paey (Milton, N.H./St. Thomas) picks up Male Field Performer of the Week for the second week in a row. Joining Van Dalen and Paey are Stony Brook’s Eric Speakman (Napier, New Zealand Taradale), who picks up Male Track Performer of the Week, and Maine’s Jesse Labreck (Oakland, Maine/Messalonskee), who nabs the Female Field Performer of the Week honor.
Van Dalen continued her early season dominance over the weekend at the Harvard Open. The senior qualified for her second NCAA Championship race in as many weeks winning the 3,000 in a blistering 9:07.48. That is the fastest time in the nation by 12 seconds.
Speakman also continued where he left off last week by winning the 3,000 at the Harvard Open. His time of 8:22.51 qualified him for the IC4A Championships and also represents the best time in the nation so far this season.
Paey tossed his way to a second straight weekly honor after recording the fifth best shot put throw in the nation this season with a distance of 17.70 meters. That qualifies the senior for the IC4A Championships and easily won him the event against Maine.
Labreck qualified for the ECAC Championships in all three events she competed in this weekend – all wins against New Hampshire. The senior took top honors in the long jump with a leap of 18-11.75, the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 8.08 and the high jump clearing a height of 5-09.75.
The Hartford indoor track and field teams grabbed three individual wins, a relay victory and set a school record at the Harvard Open in Cambridge, Mass. A pair of underclass women collected solid wins in 400-meter dash and the high jump. Freshman Tiffany Harrison (Bloomfield, Conn./Bloomfield) won the 400 in 58.42 while sophomore Alisha Beeman (Stratford, Conn./Bunnell) leapt to victory in the high jump clearing 1.60 meters. Hartford’s 4x400 relay team also ran to victory on the day. The school record fell on the women’s side, as well, with freshman Sam Crisafulli (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa) finishing the 800-meter run in 2:18.45, good for second place. Reigning America East Male Track Performer of the Week Anderson Emerole (Jamaica, N.Y./Manhattan Center for Math and Sciences)) again paced the Hawk men at Harvard. The senior crossed first in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.33 and finished second in the 400-meter dash in 49.02. The Hawks are off for the next seven weeks, returning to action Jan. 27 at the Reebok Indoor Games in Boston.
Maine fell to New Hampshire in a dual meet over the weekend with the women dropping a close 96-87 decision and the men falling by an even closer margin, 94-87. Jesse Labreck won all three of her events to lead the Black Bear women. She took the long jump with a leap of 18-11.75, the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 8.08 and the high jump clearing 5-09.75. Both the 4X440 and the 4x880 relay teams captured first place against New Hampshire. For the men, Frank Del Duca (Bethel/Maine) won the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.44, while finishing second in the long jump with a leap of 21-08.25 to lead Maine. Alexander Moser (York Harbor, Maine/York) won the mile in 4:20.59 and finished second in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:58.78. Maine will not compete again until after the new year on Jan. 14.
New Hampshire picked up 17 first-place finishes combined en route to sweeping Maine on Saturday with the men taking a 94-87 decision while the women were 96-87 victors. Of the 17 victories, nine belonged to the women as several seniors led the way for the Wildcats. In the field events, Melody Pothier (Lisbon, Conn.) won the weight throw with a toss of 15.92 meters and Danica Goodheart (Meredith, N.H.) leapt to victory in the triple jump with a distance of 11.10 meters. Over on the track, Allison Letourneau (Kingston, Nova Scotia) won the mile in a time of 4:54.53 and Kate Early (Corning, N.Y.) showcased her versatility with a win in the pentathlon (3224 points). The other eight wins against the Black Bears came from the men as senior Brice Paey captured the shot put for the second straight week with an impressive toss of 17.70 meters. Junior Matthew Guarente (Saugus, Mass.) won the high jump for UNH with a leap of 1.98 meters. Freshman D’Mahl McFadden (Penacook, N.H.) won the 55-meter hurdles in a time of 7.80 and senior Renrick Pesce (New Hartford, Conn.) finished first in the heptathlon with 4641 total points to highlight the victories on the track. The Wildcats return to action on Jan. 21 when they host Holy Cross and Stonehill at the Paul Smith Oval.
The Stony Brook distance runners continued their strong early season performances this weekend at the Harvard Open in Cambridge, Mass. The Seawolves sent a select group to compete in the men’s and women’s 3000 meter race. Leading the way for the men was Eric Speakman. The sophomore won the 3000 in a personal best time of 8:22.51. That time qualified him for the IC4A Championships. Tyler Frigge (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern) finished eighth for the Seawolf men in 8:49.22. The women placed three runners in the top five of the 3,000-meter run led by Lucy Van Dalen who qualified for her second NCAA Championship race winning in 9:07.48, nearly three seconds faster than the automatic qualifying mark. Van Dalen qualified in the mile run last weekend. Carolina Cortes (Woodmere, N.Y.) clocked in at 10:06.38, good for third place and a personal best time while Lorraine McCarthy (Waterford, Ireland) placed fifth in 10:24.79. Elsewhere for Stony Brook, the men set two school records at the Bill Ward Invitational on Thursday. Terry Martin (Bloomingburg, N.Y.) set the mark in the long jump while Paul deQuillfeldt (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst) etched his name in the record books for the 60-meter dash. Martin jumped 7.24 meters and deQuillfeldt ran a 7.03 in the 60. The women also competed at the Bill Ward Invitational and it was a record day for them as well. Senior Christina Johnson (Elmont, N.Y) tied her own school record with a 9.37 in the 60-meter hurdles. Stony Brook will take the next few weeks off before returning to the track at the Long Island Championships on Jan. 20.