BALTIMORE—The University at Albany men’s and women’s track and field teams continued their dominance as they again won the America East Outdoor Track and Field crowns Sunday at UMBC Stadium. The Great Dane men took their seventh consecutive title with a total of 204 points while the women won their third straight championship and fifth title in six years as they amassed 174 points.
The Albany coaches earned 2011 Coaching Staff of the Year on both the men’s and women’s sides for their efforts in leading the Great Danes to the 2011 conference titles.
The Albany men took the title, beating out second-place Binghamton University by 33 points. Boston University finished third with 134 points, host UMBC took fourth place with 97.5 points and University of New Hampshire rounded out the top five with 91 points. University of Maine posted 66 points to finish sixth, while University of Vermont earned a seventh-place finish with 50.5 points. University of Hartford took the eighth spot with 37 points and Stony Brook University finished ninth and scored five points.
The Great Danes sealed their seventh straight America East championship with three event wins on the second day of the championship. Junior Peter Rowell won the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 52.57. Senior Gregory Kelly also posted a win on the track for the Great Danes, taking the top spot in the 800 meters with a time of 1:51.55. Senior Nasim Sideeq picked up Albany’s third win of the day, taking gold in the triple jump with a leap of 52’ 1.25”. Albany freshman Kareem Morris, who was named the Most Outstanding Rookie of the Meet, finished third in the triple jump. Albany senior Luke Schoen was named Most Outstanding Field Performer of the Meet for his win in the pole vault Saturday.
Binghamton took second place thanks to strong showings from its distance runners and its relay teams on Sunday. Junior Erik van Ingen posted a win in the 1,500 meters, finishing with a time of 3:52.55, edging senior teammate Casey Quaglia, who finished second with his time of 3:52.84. Sophomore Jeff Martinez also brought home gold for the Bearcats, taking the top spot in the 5,000 meters. Binghamton then picked up wins in both the 4x400-meter relay and 4x800-meter relay.
Boston U. junior sprinter R.J. Page led the Terriers to their third-place finish, moving up from their seventh-place spot after the championship’s first day. Page posted wins in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes. The junior posted an America East-record time of 21.22 in the 200 meters on his way to winning both the Most Outstanding Track Performer trophy and the Coaches’ Award. Fellow Terrier sprinter, junior Tewado Latty, also set a conference record, winning the 400 meters with a time of 46.29. The pair then led the 4x100-relay team to gold. In the field, senior Dan Withrow posted a pair of wins, taking the top spot in both the shot put and the discus.
UMBC sophomore Trae Proctor took home the only top finish of the weekend for the host institution, winning the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.46. New Hampshire sophomore Matthew Guarente also picked up a victory, clearing a height of 6’ 8.25” in the high jump. Vermont junior Chris Lemieux rounded out the men’s winners, taking first in the decathlon with 6,737 total points.
On the women’s side, Albany took the championship with 174 points, topping runner-up Boston U., which finished with 151 points. New Hampshire, which led the team competition heading into the day, finished with 118 points to take third place. Maine took fourth place with 97.5 points, just ahead of Vermont, which finished fifth with 90.5 points. Binghamton posted 79 points for a sixth-place finish while UMBC earned 75 points and seventh place in front of its home crowd. Stony Brook picked up 58 points to finish eighth while Hartford rounded out the field in ninth place with 14 points.
Albany solidified its third straight championship with a pair of gold medals and three silvers on Sunday. On the track, sophomore Allison Rogers took the top spot in the 400 meters with a time of 54.62 while senior Christen Griffin took second in the 100-meter hurdles. In the field, junior Catie Coxon posted a winning mark of 152’ 1” in the discus. Senior Yushanni Durrant picked up a second-place finish in the triple jump while the 4x100-meter relay team earned also took second.
The Boston U. women picked up seven first-place finishes as they moved up from third place to second on the final day of the championship. Junior Shelby Walton led the way for the Terriers, crossing the finish line first in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes as well as leading the 4x100-meter relay team to a victory with a conference-record-breaking time of 45.73. Walton was named Most Outstanding Track Performer for her efforts. Sophomore teammate Allison Barwise also earned individual accolades, taking Most Outstanding Field Performer honors after winning the high jump Saturday and completing a win in the heptathlon Sunday. Seniors Rebecca Kelly and Whitney Ford, as well as junior Katie Matthews, also picked up wins for the Terriers. Kelly won the 400-meter hurdles, Ford won the triple jump and Matthews won the 5,000 meters.
Maine junior Jesse Labreck, the Coaches’ Award winner, broke the America East record in the 100-meter hurdles, posting a time of 13.65. Labreck then ran the second leg of the Black Bear’s gold-medal 4x400-meter relay team that finished in a time of 3:47.61. Stony Brook junior Lucy Van Dalen also set an America East record, posting a time of 4:15.13 in the 1,500 meters, shattering the old record time of 4:25.85. Van Dalen then led the Seawolves to a record time of 8:51.53 to win the 4x800-meter relay.
Vermont junior Julie McGilpin, who won the 800 meters with a time of 2:09.32, and UMBC sophomore Amanda Deller, who took gold in the shot put with a toss of 47’ 2.25”, rounded out Sunday’s event champions.
For more on the 2011 America East Outdoor Track and Field Championship, visit Championship Central at AmericaEast.com.