CAMBRIDGE, Mass.— A pair of America East runners earned Track Performer of the Week honors to close out the regular season as they qualified for the NCAA Championship meet. Binghamton University senior Erik van Ingen (Marathon, N.Y./Marathon/Canisius) took the Male Track Performer of the Week award while Stony Brook University senior Lucy Van Dalen (Wanganui, New Zealand/Wanganui Collegiate) earned Female Track Performer of the Week recognition. In the field, University of Maine sophomore Justin Gagne (Biddeford, Maine/Biddeford) threw his way to Male Field Performer of the Week honors and University at Albany senior Sandy Antenor (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern) took Female Field Performer of the Week distinction.
Van Ingen won the mile with a school-record and NCAA-qualifying time of 3:57.11 at the Boston University Valentine Invitational on Saturday afternoon. In a blistering field, van Ingen was one of five runners to go under the NCAA-qualifying standard of 3:59.00. Before this weekend, only three other runners in the nation had broken the 3:59.00 mark this year. Van Ingen also broke his own school record of 3:59.41, which he set on Jan. 31, 2010 at the Penn State Open.
Gagne won the shot put at New Hampshire with a throw of 15.77 meters, which easily beat the IC4A-qualifying standard and is a top-10 performance in school history. The sophomore currently leads America East this season in the shot put with a top mark of 15.87 meters.
Van Dalen ran the fastest 3,000 meters in the country this season with a time of 8:56.77. That time automatically qualifies the senior for the NCAA Championship meet. Van Dalen’s run also broke the school record in the event by more than 18 seconds.
Antenor won the triple jump at the New York Road Runners Saturday Night at the Armory III on February 12. Her winning leap of 12.33 meters (40’ 5.50”) is the fourth-best in program history and is the top mark in America East this season. She defeated the second-place jumper by 5.5 inches. Antenor also went 40-plus feet in a first-place effort at Penn State’s Nittany Lion Challenge on January 15.
University at Albany competed at the New York Road Runners Saturday Night at the Armory III meet on February 12. The men’s team finished third in the team standings while the women earned a fifth-place finish. For the men, sophomore Tristan Akong (Springfield Gardens, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) won the 60-meter dash with the second-fastest time in school history. Akong sprinted 6.81 seconds and was four-hundredths of a second off Junior Burnett’s school record. Akong and sophomore Jake Rachiele (Farmingdale, N.Y./St. John the Baptist), who was fourth in 6.96, each bettered the IC4A standard. Senior Greg Kiley (Saratoga Springs, N.Y./Saratoga Springs) finished third in the 1,000-meter run by running an IC4A time of 2:26.68. Juniors Nick Santos (Albany, N.Y./Colonie Central) and Chris Burke (Tully, N.Y./Tully) each qualified for the IC4A meet in the 800-meter run. Santos took third in 1:52.15, while Burke was fourth in 1:52.23. Freshman Kareem Morris (Albany, N.Y./Albany) was second in the long jump with a leap of 6.97 meters. In the women’s meet, senior Sandy Antenor (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern) won the triple jump with a mark of 12.33 meters, the fourth-best leap in program history. Antenor and sophomore Ashley Mahlmeister (Unadilla, N.Y./Sidney) each qualified for the ECAC championships. Mahlmeister jumped 12.06 meters to tie for fourth place. Seniors Christen Griffin (Waldorf, Md./Maurice J. McDonough) and Yushanni Durrant (Montego Bay, Jamaica/Mount Alvernia) went one-two in the 60m-hurdles. Griffin sprinted 8.60 seconds to register the fourth-best time in program annals. Two freshmen turned in season-best performances as Brianne Bellon (Greenfield, N.Y./Saratoga Springs) ran 2:12.34 in the 800 meters to hit the tape in third place while Kathryn Fanning (Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius) crossed the finish line in 2:53.78 to place third in the 1,000 meters. Junior Elia Francis (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Ursuline School) posted a second-place effort in the 500-meter dash with a time of 1:16.23.
Binghamton University competed at the Boston University Valentine Invitational. The men were led by senior Erik van Ingen (Marathon, N.Y./Marathon/Canisius), who won the mile with a school-record and NCAA-qualifying time of 3:57.11. In a blistering field, van Ingen was one of five runners to go under the NCAA-qualifying standard of 3:59.00. The top time in the nation is currently 3:54.59, set by Casey Patrick of Montana State on Feb. 4 at the Montana State Dual Meet. Before this weekend, only three other runners had broken the 3:59.00 mark this year. Van Ingen also broke his own school record of 3:59.41, which he set on Jan. 31, 2010 at the Penn State Open. He went on to place ninth overall at the NCAA Indoor Championships last March. The Bearcats also hosted a dual meet against Syracuse on February 11. For the men, junior Chris Veney (Olean, N.Y./Olean) took the top spot in the long jump and the triple jump. The Bearcat women were led by junior Abigail Oakes (Lydonville, N.Y./Lydonville) who won both the shot put and the weight throw.
Boston University hosted its Valentine Invitational meet February 11-12. For the men, freshman Rich Peters (Bristol, England/Brimsham Green School) set a school record and qualified for the NCAA championships as he finished third in the mile run with a time of 3:58.26, besting former Terrier David Proctor’s school record of 3:59.14. Boston U. also garnered top-10 finishes in two field events. Sophomore Adam Weaver (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) tied for eighth in the pole vault (4.10m), while freshman Connor Sullivan (Easton, Mass./Oliver Ames) tied for fifth in the high jump (1.93m). In addition, junior Balint Horvath (1:54.45) (Budapest, Hungary/Szent István Gimnázium) and graduate student Jeff Moreau (1:52.94) (Hanson, Mass./Whitman-Hanson) ran IC4A-qualifying times in the 800-meter run. For the women, junior Shelby Walton (Danbury, Conn./Danbury) and sophomore Allison Barwise (Orange, Conn./Amity Regional) picked up one win each. Walton placed first in the 60-meter dash for her third straight race with a time of 7.64. Barwise claimed the high jump with an ECAC-qualifying mark (1.78m) and also finished fifth in the long jump (5.37m). Boston U. collected four additional top-10 finishes, including freshman Chelsea Curry’s (Nashville Tenn./Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet) fifth-place finish in the shot put (12.66m). Senior Jen Fleser (Warwick, R.I./Toll Gate) garnered 10th in the weight throw (14.06m) and sophomores Nikko Brady (8.70) (New Castle, Del./Charter School of Wilmington) and Catherine Milledge (8.85) (Hartford, Conn./Weaver) finished fourth and sixth, respectively, in the 60-meter hurdles.
The University of Hartford track and field teams traveled to Boston University to compete in its Valentine’s Invitational on Saturday. Junior Andrew Chalmers (Ashland, N.H./Penacook Reginoal) highlighted the men’s team when he erased his third school record of the indoor season, this time in the mile run. Chalmers bettered the six-year-old record by more than two seconds, clocking in at 4:17.51 for 51st. Junior Anderson Emerole (Jamaica, N.Y./Manhattan Center for Math and Sciences) took home the highest finish for the men when he turned in the 12th-best time in the 200 in 22.07, a season-best. Junior Wayne Lawrence (Warwick, N.Y./Warwick Valley) also grabbed a school record when he crossed in 2:34.80 in the 1,000-meter run, finishing 46th overall. In the field events, sophomore Kyle Cholewa (Griswold, Conn./Griswold) paved the way when he notched a 15th place finish with his hurl of 13.58 meters in the weight throw. For the women, senior Marisa Poleto (Albany, N.Y./Colonie) garnered a Hartford school record in the 800-meter run, finishing in 2:21.04 and placing 62nd out of 138 competitors. Also turning in a strong performance on the track was the 4x400-meter relay team, which combined for a season-low time of 3:57.87, good for 11th out of 38 squads. In the field events, sophomore Brittney Lawson (Woonsocket, R.I./Woonsocket) and freshman Alisha Beeman (Stratford, Conn./Bunnell) recorded top-15 performances. In the weight throw, Lawson’s season-best mark of 14.86 meters ranked eighth while Beeman reached a height of 1.58 meters in the high jump, tying for 14th.
University of Maine took part in Boston University’s Valentine Invitational meet February 11-12. The men received a solid performance from junior Riley Masters (Bangor, Maine/Bangor). Masters qualified for the NCAA Championships in the mile at the meet as he placed second in the event with a time of 3:58.17. The time smashed his own school record as he crossed the finish line under 3:59.00 for the first time in his career. In the field events, junior Justin Gagne (Biddeford, Maine/Biddeford) won the shot put at UNH with a throw of 15.77 meters, which easily beat the IC4A-qualifying standard and is a top-10 school performance. For the women, sophomore Cearha Miller (Oxon Hill, Md./Oxon Hill) cruised to a win in the 200 meters at the Valentine’s Invitational, taking first with a top-10 school time of 24.09 that easily qualified her for ECAC meet.
UMBC competed in the Rider/Lafayette Winter Games over the weekend. For the men, junior Joshua Hewitson (New Market, Md./Linganore) set UMBC season-best times in the 200- and 400-meter dashes in 22.69 and 49.81, respectively. The women were led by sophomore Amanda Deller (Aberdeen, Md./Aberdeen), who swept the throwing events, taking the shot put with a throw of 14.09 meters and the weight throw with a heave of 16.13 meters. Senior Sara Parkinson (Chorley, England/Loughborough University) won the mile run in 4:55.32 and the 1,000-meter run in 2:59.23. Both times were UMBC season-best times. In the 60-meter hurdles, junior Imani Colbert (Upper Marlboro, Md./C.H. Flowers) won in an ECAC-qualifying time of 8.74, while sophomore Chowan Brightful (New Market, Md./Linganore) finished second in 8.97 and junior Fallon Rovel-Jones (Owings Mills, Md./New Town) placed third in 9.21. Freshman Deborah Adelola (Lanham, Md./Bladensburg) claimed first place in the 500-meter dash in 1:16.69, a UMBC season-best time.
University of New Hampshire hosted a non-scoring tri-meet over the weekend to close out its regular-season schedule. The Wildcats also sent four athletes to Boston University’s Valentine Invitational. At the tri-meet, the men’s team took first and second place in the high jump, 300 meters, 800 meters, 3,000 meters and pole vault. The Wildcats were led by sophomore Matthew Guarente (Saugus, Mass./Saugus), who cleared a height of 1.94 meters in the high jump. The New Hampshire women posted eight first-place finishes at the tri-meet. The Wildcat performances were highlighted by the 55-meter dash in which sophomore Allison Brehm (Pembroke, N.H./Pembroke) and junior Elizabeth Adejuyigbe (Penacook, N.H./Merrimack Valley) finished one-two with times of 7.37 and 7.40, respectively.
Stony Brook University wrapped up its regular-season schedule at the Valentine Invitational, hosted by Boston U. For the men, seniors Alex Felce (Stroud, England/Archway Comp.) and Shamell Forbes (Springfield Gardens, N.Y./Valley Stream Central) qualified for the IC4A meet in the 1,000 meters, finishing with times of 2:38.91 and 2:29.61, respectively. For the women, senior Lucy Van Dalen (Wanganui, New Zealand/Wanganui Collegiate) ran the fastest 3,000 meters in the country this season with a time of 8:56.77. That time, which broke the school record by more than 18 seconds, automatically qualifies Van Dalen for the NCAA Championships.
University of Vermont competed in a non-scoring tri-meet hosted by New Hampshire at the Paul Sweet Oval last Saturday. The men’s team won four events while the women’s team won five events. For the men, junior Nick Archer (Warwick, R.I./Tollgate) won the men’s 600 meters with a career-best time of 1:24.70. Archer led a Vermont contingent that took the top-four places in the 600 meters. In the mile, junior Connor Jennings (Concord, N.H./Concord) prevailed with a time of 4:24.89. Jennings was joined by sophomores Ethan McBrien (Dublin, N.H./Contoocook Valley Regional) and Andy Stillman (Norfolk, Mass./Xaverian Brothers) and freshman Jamie Love (Armonk, N.Y./Byram Hills) as part of the Catamounts’ 4x800-meter relay team. Vermont defeated host New Hampshire by 10 seconds with a mark of 8:15.27. Sophomore Dan Ciabattoni (Reading, Pa./Holy Name) won the long jump with a season-best mark of 6.70 meters. He also finished second in the triple jump with a combined score of 12.91 meters. For the women, freshman Tess Cioffredi (Lebanon, N.H.) won the 300 meters in her first time at the distance this season with a time of 42.61. Sophomore Julie McGilpin (Westfield, Mass./Westfield) took the 600 meters by almost a five-second margin with a time of 1:34.81. In the 800 meters, junior Jennifer Magoon (Tilton, N.H./Winnisquam) finished first with a time of 2:21.12. In the 1,000 meters, sophomore Kirsten Weberg (East Aurora, N.Y.) and junior Morgan Powers (Cincinatti, Ohio/Indian Hills) finished first and second, respectively, in times of 2:55.52 and 2:58.75. In the high jump, a Vermont trio of freshmen swept the top-three with Brittany St. Clair (Whitehall, N.Y.), Valerie Moyer (Reston, Va.), and Erica Hawley (Walpole, Mass.) leading the way.
The 2011 America East Indoor Track & Field Championship will take place February 18-19 at the Boston University Track and Tennis Center in Boston, Mass. The America East Conference will release a preview of the championship meet on Wednesday, February 16.