CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – America East track and field student-athletes scaled the country over the weekend with meets spanning from Palo Alto, Calif., to Gainesville, Fla., and turned in standout performances.
Boston University sweeps the weekly awards on the track side as Rich Peters (Bristol, England/Brimsham Green School) and Monica Adler (Manchester, Mass./Beverly) collect the Male and Female Track Performer of the Week awards. Maine’s Justin Gagne (Biddeford, Maine/Biddeford) reels in Male Field Performer of the Week honors and Vermont’s Nika Ouelette (Brookline, Mass./Brookline) gets the Female Field Performer of the Week nod.
Peters began his outdoor season with a strong showing at the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif., last weekend. The sophomore distance runner crossed the finish line with a time of 13:56.89 in the 5,000-meter run to finish fourth. Peters’ time is the fastest in the conference this season by nearly a minute.
At the Pepsi Florida Relays, Adler turned in a fourth-place finish in the 1,500-meter run clocking in at 4:22.29. That time represents the best in the conference so far this season.
Gagne placed second in the shot put with an IC4A-qualifying toss of 55’3,” which ranks as the second-best throw in school history and in the conference this season. He also won the discus with a throw of 153’5” at a tri-meet hosted by New Hampshire.
Ouellette was the top collegiate thrower in the women’s javelin at the Duke Invitational and placed second overall with a throw of 46.39 meters. A Nike professional thrower won the event, but Ouelette’s throw was a full meter better than the third-place finisher.
Albany returns to action after several weeks off this weekend at the third annual “Dog Fight” hosted by UConn and at the UMass Invitational.
Binghamton competed at the non-scoring Cornell April Open over the weekend. Cal Michaels (Vestal, N.Y./Vestal) led the Bearcat men with a first-place finish in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 3:58.99. Elsewhere on the men’s side, Collin Frost (Randolph, N.J./Randolph) was runner-up to Michaels in the 1,500, John Slaven (Sherill, N.Y./Vernon-Verona-Sherill) placed second in the pole vault (15’3”) and Colin Anderson (Manlius N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius) took second in the hammer (173’2”) and third in the discus (148’7”). On the women’s side, Jessica Hennig (Pine Bush, N.Y./Pine Bush), the three-time defending conference indoor champion in the 400, won the same event in an outdoor meet for the second straight week with a time of 57.02. Ashley AuPont (Endicott, N.Y./American Intl.) placed second in t he high jump with an ECAC-qualifying height of 5’7,” Camille Ginyard (Vestal, N.Y./Vestal) was second in the pole vault (11’7.75”) and Nandi-Dozier Lewis (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter’s) was second in the long jump (18’7”). Binghamton also sent some of its distance runners to Sam Howell Invitational at Princeton University. Adam Quinn (Clifton, N.Y./Shenendehoah) was the top finisher, placing fourth in the 3,000 steeplechase (9:04.52). The Bearcats will be in action this weekend at the Bucknell Outdoor Challenge and the West Point Invitational. Both meets start on Saturday.
Boston University’s track and field teams combined for 23 top-10 finishes in three separate events across the country over the weekend. The Terriers sent student-athletes to the Stanford Invitational, the Florida Relays and the George Davis Invitational. Rich Peters led the way for the Terrier men in Palo Alto, Calif., with a fourth-place finish in the 5,000-meter run. Peters clocked in at 13:46.89 to claim the fourth spot. At the Florida Relays, the Terrier 4x400 and 4x800 relay teams each finished 13th while Sam Wuest (Sudbury, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury) placed 12th in the high jump. Closer to home at the George Davis Invitational in Lowell, Mass., Connor Sullivan (Easton, Mass./Oliver Ames) led the way with a second-place showing in the high jump (2.00m) while Ethan Knight (Mendota Heights, Minn./Henry Sibley) turned a third-place toss in the dicus (44.47m). Rosa Moriello (Naugatuck, Conn./Naugatuck) finished ninth in the 5,000-meter run (16:11.61) at Stanford to lead the Terrier women. Monica Adler turned in a fourth-place finish in the 1,500-meter run, finishing with a time of 4:22.29, at the Florida Relays. Also in Florida, Allison Barwise (Orange, Conn./Amity Regional) cleared a height of 1.75 meters to also take fourth in the high jump. At the George Davis Invitational, Sarah Dillard (East Orange, N.J./Episcopal (Va.)) had three top-10 finished including two top-five marks to lead the way. The sophomore finished fourth in the shot put (12.59m) and third in the discus (39.68m) before rounding out her day with a tenth-place finish in the hammer (43m). Both Terrier squads head to Providence, R.I., this weekend for the Brown Invitational starting on Saturday.
Hartford sent its track and field teams to Springfield, Mass. over the weekend to compete in the AIC Invitational. The women finished third and the men turned in a seventh-place showing. In the women’s 400-meter dash, the Hawks finished one-two with Tiffany Harrison (Bloomfield, Conn./Bloomfield) claiming the victory. The freshman rounded the track in 56.98 seconds, a personal-best time. Priscilla Appiagyei (South Windsor, Conn./South Windsor) finished right behind Harrison clocking in at 58.64 to take second. The Hartford women also picked up victories in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays. In the field, Alisha Beeman (Stratford, Conn./Bunnell) had another strong week, taking second in the javelin with a toss of 37.41. She also finished third in the high jump clearing a height of 1.55 meters. The Hartford men received a second-place finish from Anderson Emerole (Jamaica, N.Y./Manhattan Center for Math and Sciences) in the 400-meter dash with a time of 49.41. Emerole also ran a leg in the 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams which both finished fourth. Sophomore John Busque (Manchester, Conn./Manchester) took fifth in the 10,000-meter run covering the distance in 32:14.10 and setting a career best. The Hawks will be in Massachusetts again this weekend as they compete at the UMass Invitational in Amherst.
Corey Conner (Townsend, Mass./North Middlesex Regional) and Justin Gagne led the Maine track and field teams at a non-scoring tri-meet at New Hampshire over the weekend. Gagne posted a first and second place finish in two field events. Gagne placed second in the shot put with a distance of 55’3.” His win came in the discus with a throw of 153’5.” The Black Bear men swept the sprinting events as Frank Del Duca (Bethel, Maine) took first in the 100-meter dash clocking in at 11.01, Daniel Roukey (Westbrook, Maine/Westbrook) won took the 200 in a time of 22.11 and Jake Leithiser (Old Town, Maine/Old Town High School) topped the field in the 400 (49.06). For the women, Conner won a pair of events (1,500 and 3,000 meter runs) to bring her season win total to four. Mary Fagan (Camden, Maine/Camden Hills) won the 400 in a time of 1:00.31 while Mary Scanlon (Pembroke, Mass./Pembroke High School) took top honors in the 800 with a time of 2:20.14. Maine swept the hurdle events with Allison Fereshetian (Turner, Maine/Waterville) and Angela Stakus (Mendon, Mass.) taking the 100 and 400 hurdles in times of 14.36 and 1:08.26. Angelica Nelligan-Smith (Glenburn, Maine/John Baptist) led the Black Bear women in the field events as she won the pole vault with a top-five school mark of 10’6.25.” Maine travels back to New Hampshire this weekend for the Wildcat Invitational starting on Saturday.
The UMBC track and field teams split up this weekend to compete at both the Duke Invitational and the Liberty Collegiate Invitational. At Duke, freshman Mercedes Jackson claimed victory in the 200-meter dash (24.20) and placed third in the 100-meter dash (11.90). In addition, she combined with Ebonique Jones (New Castle, Del./William Penn), Briana Young (Bowie, Md./Elizabeth Seton) and Imani Colbert (Upper Marlboro, Md./C.H. Flowers) to break a school record and take the top spot in the 4x100 relay in a time of 47.07. For the men, distance runner T.J. Cowing (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) finished fourth in the 10,000-meter run. At Liberty, Aaron Brooks (Upper Marlboro, Md./DeMatha) paced the men’s squad with two top-five finishes in the discus and the shot put. His throw of 47.21 meters placed him third in the discus while a toss of 15.01 meters garnered him fourth in the shot. For the women, Laura Walker (Eldersburg, Md./Liberty) broke her own school record while finishing fourth in the pole vault. The Retrievers have a quick turnaround as they head south once again at the Sea Ray Relays beginning on Wednesday.
New Hampshire hosted Maine and Holy Cross in a non-scoring tri-meet over the weekend. For the Wildcat men, Brice Paey (Milton, N.H./St. Thomas) won the shot put in back-to-back weeks with an IC4A-qualifying toss of 56’7.5.” Chris Dupuis (Plaistow, N.H./Timberlane) took the hammer throw in a IC4A-qualifying fashion with a toss of 178’2,” while Jesse Swink captured the javelin for the second straight week, winning with a toss of 185’3.” Matthew Guarente (Saugus, Mass.) won the high jump clearing 6’4.” On the track, UNH swept the top three spots in the 1,500-meter run, led by sophomore Kevin Greene (Silver Spring, Md.) crossing the finish line in a time of 3:58.55. On the women’s side, Allison Brehm (Pemroke, N.H.) won a pair of individual events for the second straight week, winning the 100 (12.23) and 200 (25.53) meter dashes. Laura Stern continued her impressive start to the outdoor season, winning the javelin for the third straight week with a toss of 139.’ Rosemary Read (West Greenwich, R.I.) won the hammer throw and Wildcat jumpers Caroline Bonsaint (Hampton, N.H.) and Danica Goodheart (Meredith, N.H.) won the long jump and triple jump, respectively. Also picking up wins for UNH were Jessica Salley (Andover, Mass.) in the high jump and Abigail Huntress (Saco, Maine) in the shot put. New Hampshire continues its homestand with the Wildcat Invitational next weekend.
The Stony Brook track and field teams officially opened University Track with a quad-meet against Providence, Bryant and Marist last week. For the women, seniors Christina Johnson (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont), LaQuashia Hall (New York, N.Y./Norman Thomas) and Kimberly Pough (North Babylon, N.Y./North Babylon) along with sophomore Katie Manzi (Swan Lake, N.Y./Sullivan West) broke the old 4x200 record by more than four seconds, recording a time of 1:45.58. Manzi (300-meter dash) and Pough (100-meter dash) each won individual events as well. Manzi’s time of 43.18 also set the new school standard. On the men’s side, freshman Terry Martin (Bloomingburg, N.Y./Pine Bush) ran a 54.52 in the 400 hurdles despite stumbling out of the blocks. His time broke a 31-year-old school record. Lamar Hayes (Voorhees, N.J./Lawrenceville School) ran a 35.05 in the 300-meter dash to also set a new school record. Hayes also took the top spot in the long jump with a leap of 6.60 meters. Mark Appledorf (Hauppauge, N.Y./Hauppauge) won the grueling 10,000-meter run (33:20.08) and Eric Speakman (Napier, New Zealand/Taradale) took the 800 in 1:52.87. Next up for the Seawolves is the Rutgers Invitational in New Jersey this weekend.
Vermont competed at the Duke Invitational in Durham, N.C. and the George Davis Invitational at UMass Lowell over the weekend. The Catamounts had three event champions and 26 top-10 finishes combined at the two events. Nika Ouellette was the top collegiate thrower in the women’s javelin at Duke and placed second overall with a throw of 46.39 meters. Yolanda Ngarambe (Marsta, Sweden/Rudbeck) claimed victory in the 1,500-meter run as UVM swept the top two places at Lowell. Ngarambe also finished eighth in the 400 with a mark of 1:01.05. Kirsten Weberg (East Aurora, N.Y. / East Aurora) also picked up a win at Lowell in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:53.74. For the Catamount men, Connor Jennings (Concord, N.H./Concord) took the 5000-meter run title at Lowell by more than four seconds with a time of 15:06.51. Mike Grubert (Sturbridge, Mass./Tantasqua) narrowly missed his personal best in the javelin with a toss of 58.80 meters at Duke to place sixth overall. Next up for UVM is a tri-meet in Hanover, N.H. against Dartmouth and Middlebury on Saturday.