CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The 2011 America East outdoor track and field schedule is underway as five squads competed over the weekend. Four student-athletes earned Performer of the Week accolades for their strong early season performances. On the men’s side, University of Hartford senior Jonas Hampton (Pottstown, Pa./Pottsgrove) earned the Track Performer of Week while University at Albany senior Wilfredo de Jesus Elias (Arroyo, Puerto Rico/Natividad Rodriguez Gonzalez) took the Field Performer of the Week award. For the women, Albany senior Jenn Pierson (Binghamton, N.Y./Chenango Valley) grabbed the Track Performer of the Week distinction and University of Vermont freshman Nika Ouellette (Brookline, Mass./Brookline) garnered the Field Performer of the Week honor.
Hampton kicked off his 2011 outdoor campaign with a top finish in the 5,000-meter run at the Gerry Gravel Classic. The senior squeezed by Springfield College’s Ryan O’Connell by one-tenth of a second, crossing the finish line with a time of 15:14.46 to secure first place in the event. In the process, Hampton set a new school record, bettering his former record by almost 17 seconds.
De Jesus Elias won the hammer throw at Army’s Dick Shea Open with the second-best throw in school history. The senior’s toss of 193’ 1” was a season best after he qualified for the IC4A Championship the previous week with a 186’ 9” throw to place second at the Spring Break Classic in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. De Jesus Elias placed third in the hammer throw at the 2010 America East Championship after winning the event in 2009.
Pierson took second place in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at North Carolina State’s Raleigh Relays. Pierson, the defending America East champion in the event, ran the fourth-fastest time in program history, clocking in at 10:53.96. Her time was fewer than four seconds off the ECAC-qualifying standard. In 2010, Pierson advanced to the NCAA Preliminary Round in the steeplechase.
Ouellette finished first in the javelin at the Dick Shea Open with a mark of 42.71 meters (140’ 1”), a season-best mark by almost three meters. The freshman’s mark surpassed the winning mark at the 2010 America East Championship in the event by .01 meters.
University at Albany competed at North Carolina State’s Raleigh Relays and Army’s Dick Shea Open on March 25-26. Neither meet was scored. For the men, senior Luke Schoen (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) placed second in the Raleigh Relays’ pole vault and qualified for IC4As by clearing the bar at 16’ 6.75”. Schoen was competing for the first time since the 2010 indoor season. Sophomore Ethan Clary (Schuylerville, N.Y./Schuylerville Central) was fifth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (9:18.63). Senior Wilfredo de Jesus Elias (Arroyo, Puerto Rico/Natividad Rodriguez Gonzalez) won the hammer throw at the Army meet with a mark of 193’ 1”, the second-best distance in program history. The senior qualified for IC4As the previous week with a throw of 186’ 9” at the Spring Break Classic in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. Junior Stephen Hassard (Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) placed second in the discus (155’ 3”) at Army. Freshman Matthew Catera (Whitestone, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) was fourth in the decathlon, scoring 5,879 points, the eighth-highest total in school annals. Sophomore Jake Rachiele (Farmingdale, N.Y./St. John the Baptist) qualified for IC4As in the 100-meter dash (10.67) in Puerto Rico. Rachiele also ran the third leg on the first-place 4x100-meter relay that met the IC4A standard in 41.18 seconds. Senior Alie Beauvais (Hempstead, N.Y./Hempstead) won the 400 hurdles in Puerto Rico and qualified for IC4As with a time of 52.04. Beauvais also anchored the 4x400-meter relay to a second-place showing in an IC4A time of 3:13.43. For the Great Dane women, senior Jenn Pierson (Binghamton, N.Y./Chenango Valley) placed second in the Raleigh Relays’ 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:53.96, the fourth-fastest time in school history. Pierson’s time was less than four seconds off the ECAC standard. Sophomores Emily Fung (Greenwich, N.Y./Greenwich Central) and Melissa Del Rosario (Bellport, N.Y./Bellport) each qualified for ECACs in the 10,000 meters. Fung’s time of 37:03.74 ranks third on Albany’s all-time list. Senior Kadine Johnson (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) finished second in the hammer (175’ 1”), shot put (43’ 7.75”) and discus (134’ 11”) at the Army meet. Johnson recorded the second-best hammer throw in Albany history at Army after setting the record of 180’ 4” the previous week in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. Junior Catie Coxon (Delanson, N.Y./Duanesburg) won the discus with an ECAC-qualifying throw of 150’ 6”. Senior Sheena Simpkins (Middletown, N.Y./Middletown) was second in the 800-meters (2:23.15). Junior Elia Francis (Mount Vermont, N.Y./Ursuline School) and freshman Pony Sokiri (Utica, N.Y./Thomas R. Proctor) placed second in the 400-meter dash and triple jump, respectively.
Binghamton University was scheduled to compete at the West Point Invitational but cancelled its trip due to inclement weather. The Bearcat track and field teams will resume their schedule this weekend at the Sam Howell Invitational, hosted by Princeton.
Boston University sent three student-athletes, two men and one woman, to Palo Alto, Calif., to compete at the Stanford Invitational last Friday. Sophomore Robert Gibson (Brookline, Mass./Brookline) and graduate student Eric Ashe (Hanson, Mass./Whitman-Hanson) both ran in the 5,000-meter run. Gibson finished the race in 14:35.13 while Ashe ran a time of 14:50.52. Junior Katie Matthews (Rocky Hill, Conn./Rocky Hill), the lone women’s representative, competed in the 10,000-meter run and finished with a personal-best time of 33:16.97. Boston U. will return to action for two meets this weekend, competing in the Florida Relays on Friday and Saturday (April 1-2) and the Snowflake Classic on Saturday.
University of Hartford opened its outdoor schedule at the Gerry Gravel Classic last Saturday. The men finished in fourth place while the women finished second, just 3.5 points behind first-place Springfield College. On the men’s side, sophomore Ackeme Brown (Englewood, N.J./Dwight Morrow) got the Hawks off to a hot start when he raced to a time of 11.35 in the 100 meters to score the men’s first victory of the outdoor season. Senior Jonas Hampton (Pottstown, Pa./Pottsgrove) and junior Andrew Chalmers (Ashland, N.H./Plymouth Regional) dominated the distance events with gold medals in the 5,000 meters and the 3,000-meter steeplechase, respectively. Hampton squeezed by Springfield College’s top runner by one-tenth of a second to secure first and notch a new school record in the process (15:14.46) while Chalmers’ time of 9:59.17 was more than 19 seconds better than the second-place opponent. For the women, sophomore Priscilla Appiagyei (South Windsor, Conn./South Windsor) scored the women’s first top finish when she ran the 400 in 1:00.31. Feeding off her success on the track was senior Marisa Poleto (Albany, N.Y./Colonie), who clocked in at 2:24.95 to earn first in the 800 meters. Rookie Megan Barry (South Yarmouth, Mass./Dennis Yarmouth Regional) outran the competition by almost three seconds to win the 5,000-meter race, posting a time of 18:45.49. Junior Nicolle Adams (Schoharie, N.Y./Schoharie) recorded a distance of 4.98 meters in the long jump, good for first place, while Alisha Beeman (Stratford, Conn./Bunnell) took top honors in the high jump, clearing 1.57 meters. The rookie went on to take second in the javelin with a school-record mark of 37.40 meters. In the relays, the 4x100 squad placed third (50.89) while the 4x400 team fell half a second short of winning the event. Members of the Hartford track and field squad will return to the track on Thursday, March 31 when they travel to Williamsburg, Va., for the Colonial Relays, a three-day event held at William & Mary University.
University of Maine was idle last week. Two weeks ago, the Black Bears competed at the South Florida Open. For the women, junior Jesse Labreck (Oakland, Maine/Messalonskee) took first in the long jump with an ECAC-qualifying mark of 19’ 1.5” and also won the 100 hurdles with a time of 13.73, which qualified for the ECAC meet. The hurdles time would have been a new school record, but Labreck had beaten it the previous weekend at the North Florida Spring Break Invitational with a time of 13.45. Sophomore Cearha Miller (Oxon Hill, Md./Oxon Hill) took a pair of second-place finishes, finishing the 100 meters with a time of 11.90 and the 200 meters with a time of 24.06. Miller had set the school record at the Spring Invitational the previous weekend with a time of 11.73, and has qualified for the ECAC Championships in both events. Freshman Allison Fereshetian (Turner, Maine/Waterville) took top honors in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:04.92 and third in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.48. She had qualified for the ECACs the previous weekend with a time of 14.29 in the hurdles. Senior Katherine McGeoghan (Feeding Hills, Mass./Agawam) was third in the high jump with a leap of 5’ 4.25” and fourth in the 100 hurdles with a time of 14.71 while junior Jillian O’Brien (Buffalo, N.Y./West Seneca) took third in the 100 meters with an ECAC-qualifying time of 11.95 and was third in the 200 meters with a time of 24.87. For the men, junior Trevor England (Auburn, Maine/Poland) took top honors in the triple jump with a distance of 43’ 6.5”, which is a top-10 school performance. Sophomore James Reed (Garmisch, Germany/Munich International) took second in the hurdles with an IC4A-qualifying time of 14.65, while sophomore Paul Kelley (Hopkinton, Mass./Hopkinton) took the win in the 400 hurdles with a top-five school time of 54.86. The Black Bears host New Hampshire for a dual meet April 2.
UMBC did not compete last week. The Retrievers open their spring schedule with a trip to Williamsburg, Va., for the Colonial Relays April 1-2.
University of New Hampshire was idle last week. The Wildcats head to Orono, Maine for a meeting with conference foe Maine April 2.
Stony Brook University began its spring schedule last weekend at the Monmouth Season Opener. The women received a first-place performance from junior Kristal Conklin (Middletown, N.Y./Valley Central). Conklin won the 800-meter run with a time of 2:16.69, nearly two seconds faster than the second-place finisher. The junior also ran a leg in the 1600-sprint-medley relay that finished third. For the men, sophomore Stephen Reilly (Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Sachem North) took home a fourth-place finish in the 100-meter dash with a personal-best time of 11.49. The Seawolves are in action again March 29 at a quad-meet hosted by Bryant. They will also take part in the Sam Howell Invitational April 1-2.
The University of Vermont outdoor track and field teams competed at the Dick Shea Open last weekend hosted by Army. For the men, junior Chris Lemieux (Manchester, N.H./Manchester Memorial) led the Catamounts with a first-place finish in the decathlon. He finished first in the shot put, high jump, discus, and javelin. Sophomore Andy Stillman (Norfolk, Mass./Xaverian Brothers) finished first in the men’s 1,500 meters with a time of 4:06.24. It was his first time running that distance as a collegian. On the women’s side, freshman Nika Ouellette (Brookline, Mass./Brookline) finished first in the javelin with a mark of 42.71 meters, a season-best mark by almost three meters. In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, sophomore Debbie Isen (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) finished fifth with a time of 12:13.38. Junior Kalyn Weber (Lake George, N.Y./Lake George) was the runner-up in the 400-meter hurdles, posting a career-best time of 1:09.40. Vermont takes a week off from competition before heading to Durham, N.H., to compete in the New Hampshire Invitational April 9.