BALTIMORE—The University at Albany men and the University of New Hampshire women ended the first day of the 2011 America East Outdoor Track and Field Championship with the team leads. With six events completed, Albany paces the men’s pack with 59.5 points, just ahead of Binghamton University in second place with 56 points. On the women’s side, New Hampshire’s 55 points are one better than Albany’s 54 with seven events in the books.
On the men’s side, Albany and Binghamton sit in the top two spots with 59.5 points and 56 points, respectively. They are followed by New Hampshire in third place with 42 points. University of Vermont sits in fourth place with 24 points after the first day, just ahead of University of Maine, which has 20 points in fifth place. The host institution, UMBC, is in sixth place with 15.5 points, while Boston University is in seventh with 13 points and University of Hartford holds eighth place with four points. Stony Brook University, which has yet to score, rounds out the group in ninth place.
Albany led the way with four first-place finishes and one second-place finish on the first day. Sophomore Ethan Clary paced the Great Danes on the track, taking top honors in the steeplechase, edging Binghamton senior Adam Quinn by just more than half of a second. Seniors Luke Schoen and Wilfredo de Jesus Elias took first place in a pair of field events. Schoen cleared a height of 17’ 3.5” to win the pole vault and break his own America East record while de Jesus Elias hit a career-best mark of 208’ 11” to take the top spot in the hammer throw. In the long jump, Albany junior Kadeem Howell posted a mark of 23’ 8” to finish just ahead of senior teammate Frederick Casimo, who finished second with a leap of 23’ 7.5”.
Binghamton sophomore Jeff Martinez and senior teammate Chris Gaube went one-two in the 10,000 meters to pick up 18 points for the Bearcats. New Hampshire senior Mike Simon grabbed 10 points for his first-place finish in the javelin throw. Simon’s mark of 208’ 9” surpassed the second-place finisher, Vermont junior Mike Grubert, by more than 22 feet.
On the women’s side, New Hampshire grabbed the early lead with 55 points while Albany is in second with 54 points. Boston U. leads the battle for third place with 43 points, just edging Binghamton, which holds fourth place with 42 points. Vermont and Maine finished the day fifth and sixth, with 36.5 points and 35.5 points, respectively. Hartford is in seventh place with five points, Stony Brook is in eighth with two points and UMBC has not scored and is in ninth place.
New Hampshire grabbed the top spot after the first day with first-place finishes in three of the seven scored events. Senior Laurel Egan finished first in the steeplechase with a winning time of 10:45.41, more than 11 seconds over Albany senior Jenn Pierson, who finished second. Wildcat junior Sydney Fitzpatrick posted a time of 35:39.72 to take first place in the 10,000 meters. Senior Rita Ciambra took first place in the in the pole vault with a cleared height of 13’ 7.25”, breaking her own America East Championship record.
Albany picked up a victory in the hammer throw thanks to senior Kadine Johnson, who took the event’s top spot with a toss of 174’ 7”. Boston U. sophomore Allison Barwise leapt 5’ 10” to take the top spot in the high jump and also set the America East outdoor record in the event. Barwise also leads the women’s heptathlon with 3,028 total points through four events. Maine junior Jesse Labreck grabbed first place in the long jump with a mark of 19’ 11” while Vermont freshman Nika Oullette rounded out the day’s winners, taking top honors in the javelin with a toss of 155’ 9”.
The second day of the 2011 America East Outdoor Track and Field Championship begins at 9 a.m. Sunday from UMBC Stadium in Baltimore, Md., with more action from the men’s decathlon and women’s heptathlon. For more information on the track and field championship, visit Championship Central at AmericaEast.com.