CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – A pair of Maine throwers sweep the weekly field awards while two nationally renowned runners pick up weekly track honors as we inch closer to the America East Championship May 5-6 at the University of Maine.
Stony Brook senior Lucy Van Dalen (Wanganui, New Zealand/Wanganui Collegiate) collects Female Track Performer of the Week and Binghamton’s Erik van Ingen (Cortland, N.Y./Marathon) reels in Male Track Performer of the Week honors. Maine senior Justin Gagne (Biddeford, Maine/Biddeford) and freshman Robyn McFetters (Barrington, R.I./Barrington) take home Male and Female Field Performer of the Week nods.
Competing against the world’s elite, Van Dalen finished fourth in the 5,000 at the Mount Sac Relays breaking the previous school record with her time of 15:23.54. The New Zealand native just missed the Olympic ‘A’ standard but still met ‘B’ qualifying which puts her in contention for a spot on the New Zealand team for the London Olympics. Not only was her time the fastest of any conference runner and second fastest in the nation this season, it was the fifth fastest by a New Zealand woman ever.
Van Ingen placed sixth overall in the 1,500 at the Mount Sac Relays in 3:40.94. The senior was the second-fastest collegiate finisher and smashed his own school record set in 2009 of 3:43.18. He met the ‘B’ cut for the U.S. Olympic Trials and also has the third-fastest time in the nation this spring. Van Ingen is the defending conference outdoor champion in the 1,500.
Gagne continues to rewrite the throwing section of Maine’s record book as he broke his own school record in the discus yet again over the weekend at Holy Cross. His throw of 174’10” represents the best in the conference and the 27th best in the East region this spring. Gagne also won the shot put at Holy Cross with a heave of 52’10.25.”
McFetters unleashed a huge hammer throw at Holy Cross to pick up her first career weekly award. Her winning throw of 185’10” supplanted Maine’s previous record of 175’2” set in 2009 and ranks 28th in the East region.
The Albany men’s and women’s track and field teams competed at the Larry Ellis Invitational this past weekend. The Great Dane men won a pair of events at Princeton – the 1,500 and the high jump. Freshman Chris Buchanan (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero North Syracuse) finished first in the 1,500 Open division with a time of 3:51.96, which set a meet record. Classmate Alex Bowen (Beacon, N.Y./Beacon High) placed first in the high jump clearing a height of 2.08 meters. Kathryn Fanning (Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville, Manlius) led the Albany women at the Larry Ellis Invitational) as she opened up the meet with a personal best 4:29.39 in the 1,500. Her time was the second best time in school history and an ECAC-qualifying time as well. The Great Danes continue their 2012 spring campaign with the Penn Relays starting on April 26.
Erik van Ingen (Cortland, N.Y./Marathon) placed sixth overall in the 1,500 at the Mount Sac Relays highlighting a full weekend for Binghamton track and field. Van Ingen posted the second fastest time among college competitors in the event with his time of 3:40.94, smashing the school record set in 2009. The fifth-year senior met the ‘B’ cut of 3:43.00 for the U.S. Olympic Trials, which will be held June 21-July 1 in Eugene, Ore. At the Cornell Tri-Meet, Kaitlin Sullivan swept the women’s 100 and 400 hurdles. Her time of 14.02 in the 100 hurdles broke her own school record of 14.32 and met the ECAC standard. Sullivan went on to win the 400 hurdles in 1:02.38. Binghamton heads to the Penn Relays and the Cornell Big Red Invitational next weekend.
The Boston University track and field teams competed at the Larry Ellis Invitational and the MIT Invitational. For the Terrier men at the Larry Ellis Invitational, R.J. Page (Swedesboro, N.J./Kingsway Regional) won the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.18 seconds. Also on the track, Tewado Laddy (Kingston, Jamaica/White Plains (N.Y.)) was second in the 400-meter dash (46.98) and Stephen Vitale (Randolph, N.J./Randolph) placed fourth in the 400 hurdles (52.37). At MIT, Connor Sullivan (Easton, Mass./Oliver Ames) took the high jump crown with a mark of 2.05 meters. Jeff Pelage (Pompano Beach, Fla./Pine Crest School) placed second in both the discus (48.59m) and shot put (14.54m). The Boston U. women faired just as well in the field competition at MIT as four different Terriers took gold in their events. Allison Barwise (Orange, Conn./Amity Regional), Susan Ottey (Norfolk, Va./Granby), Chelsea Curry (Nashville, Tenn./Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet) and Sarah Dillard (East Orange, N.J./Episcopal (Va.)) all picked up victories. Barwise took the high jump (1.83m), Ottey was tops in the hammer throw (42.58m), Dillard won the discus (43.41m) and Curry fired a first-place shot put heave (13.25m). At the Larry Ellis Invitational, Shelby Walton (Danbury, Conn./Danbury) sprinted to a third-place finish in the 200-meter dash (24.25) and a fourth-place finish in the 100-meter dash (11.89). Boston U. will be back in action next weekend when it travels to the Penn Relays (April 26-29) and the Brown Springtime Open (April 29).
Hartford track and field competed at the Holy Cross Heptathlon and the Holy Cross Invitational over the weekend. The Hartford women notched a third-place finish at the Invitational scoring 127 points and edging out conference foe Maine while the men finished sixth overall with 66 points. On the women’s side, Nicolle Adams (Schoharie, N.Y./Schoharie) picked up first-place honors in the heptathlon. The Hawk women set a handful of records at Holy Cross highlighted by Tiffany Harrison (Bloomfield, Conn./Bloomfield) who won the 400-meter dash with a school-record time of 56.11 seconds. The Hawks’ 4x400 relay team took first with another school-record time (3:50.65) and the 4x100 relay team finished second (48.34). Alisha Beeman won the high jump for Hartford, tying a school record by clearing a height of 1.65 meters. Andrew Chalmers (Ashland, N.H./Plymouth Regional) led the Hartford men with yet another record. Chalmers became the first Hawk to break the four-minute mark in the 1,500, turning in a time of 3:59.86. He finished fourth in the event. Anderson Emerole (Jamaica, N.Y./Manhattan Center for Math and Sciences) had a big day for the Hawks as he won a pair of events. Emerole took first in the 200 (21.62) and the 400 (48.06). Hartford heads to the Penn Relays and the Yale Springtime Invitational this weekend.
Maine’s track and field teams headed to Worcester, Mass., for the Holy Cross Invite with the men taking the team title and the women finishing fourth. For the Black Bear men, Justin Gagne (Biddeford, Maine/Biddeford) won two events and broke his own school record in the discus to lead the way. His discus throw of 174’10” topped the record he set last weekend by over eight feet and his throw ranks 26th in the East region. Gagne also won the shot put with a mark of 52’10.25.” Ethan Moore (Weare, N.H.) took the top spot in the hammer throw with an IC4A-qualifying mark of 180’5” and Nathaniel Meade (Waldoboro, Maine/Medomak Valley) won the triple jump (46’11.5’). On the track, Taylor Phillips (Brookfield, Conn./Brookfield) notched a top-seven school time in the steeplechase to win the event in 9:22.78 and Ryan Hardiman (Brookline, Mass./Brookine) captured the 5,000 title in 15:19.01. Robyn McFetters smashed the school record in the hammer throw to lead the Black Bear women. She easily qualified for the ECAC Championships with her winning throw of 185’10.” Corey Conner (Townsend, Mass./No. Middlesex Regional) also broke a school record, improving her own mark by just over a tenth of a second in the 1,500 with a time of 4:27.00 to win the event. Allison Fereshetian (Turner, Maine/Waterville) had a top-five school time in the 100 hurdles as she won the event in 14.48 seconds and took second in the 400 hurdles in 1:03.33. Katy Grime (Brownington, Vt.) recorded a winning throw of 132’6” in the discus and Carolyn Stocker (Westfield, Mass./Westfield High School) won the 5,000 in 17:47.41. Maine next competes at the Penn Relays and at New Hampshire this weekend.
UMBC competed at both the Morgan State Legacy Meet and the Larry Ellis Invitational in Princeton, N.J. this weekend. Freshman Mercedes Jackson (Huntington, Md./Huntington) headlined a group of athletes who broke school records. Jackson broke her own school record in the 100-meter dash twice in Princeton and then ran a leg in the 4x100 relay team comprised of Ebonique Jackson (New Castle, Del./William Penn), Briana Young (Bowie, Md./Elizabeth Seton) and Whitney Ikpeze (Upper Marlboro, Md./Bladensburg) to set the new school mark (46.47). In the field events, Chowan Brightful (New Market, Md./Linganore) cleared 1.7 meters in the high jump to set a new UMBC standard. For the men, Aaron Brooks (Upper Marlboro, Md./DeMatha) took the win in the discus, jumping to second all-time at UMBC with a distance of 50.54 meters. UMBC now prepares to head to Philadelphia for the historic Penn Relays which start on Thursday.
New Hampshire competed at the Larry Ellis Invitational over the weekend on the campus of Princeton University. Allison Letourneau (Kingston, Nova Scotia) finished ninth and set a school record in a field of 63 runners in the elite division of the 1,500, crossing the finish line in 4:24.57. Letourneau has now set five school records this year between the indoor and outdoor seasons. Keely Maguire (Georgetown, Mass.) also broke the record mark in the same event finishing 12th overall in 4:26.47. Laura Stern (Shirley, Mass.) highlighted Saturday’s events as she finished fourth in the javelin (133’2”). Brice Paey (Milton, N.H./St. Thomas) led the way for the Wildcat men with a third-place showing in the shot put with a toss of 57’9.5.” Matthew Guarente (Saugus, Mass) tied for fifth in the high jump clearing 6’4.75” while Kevin Greene (Silver Spring, Md.) placed seventh in the 800, completing his two laps with a 55-runner field in a time of 1:53.27. Freshman D’mahl McFadden (Penacook, N.H.) ran to an eighth-place finish and qualified for the IC4A Championships in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.83. UNH heads to Worcester, Mass., today to compete against Holy Cross and Rhode Island before heading to the Penn Relays this weekend.
Lucy Van Dalen highlighted the Stony Brook women’s track and field team’s performance at the Mount Sac Relays over the weekend. The senior ran the 5,000 in 15:23.54 setting a new school record. Van Dalen now owns outdoor school records in the 800, 1,500, 3,000, 5,000 and holds spots on the 4x800 and distance medley relay teams. At Princeton’s Larry Ellis Invitational, Olivia Burne (Palmerston North, New Zealand) opened her outdoor season in the 1,500 with a time of 4:25.49. Mary O’Connor (Waterford, Ireland) had a very solid run in the 800 finishing third in 2:11.56. For the men, Stony Brook sent a select group to the Ellis Invite at Princeton. Eric Speakman (Napier, New Zealand) ran a school-record 3:47.25 in the 1,500 which is an IC4A-qualifying time. The Seawolves will head to the Penn Relays and the Yale Springtime Invitational this weekend.
Vermont sent track and field competitors all over the country last week. At the Mount Sac Relays, Kirsten Weberg (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora) broke her own school record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:37.17 and placed fifth overall in the University Open B race. Her time represents the fastest time by an America East female runner this year by more than 10 seconds. Morgan Powers (Cincinnati, Ohio/Indian Hill) finished eighth overall in the 10,000-meter Invitational Elite race with a time of 34:15.12. That is the best time in the conference so far this season by roughly 35 seconds. Nika Ouellette (Brookline, Mass./Brookline) qualified for the finals in the javelin at the Beach Invitational on Saturday. Her best throw traveled 46.36 meters missing her previous career high by just 1.11 meters. For the Catamount men, Ethan McBrien (Dublin, N.H./Contoocook Valley Regional) set a new personal best in the 1,500 with a time of 3:50.96 to finish fourth in his section. Sam Hoadley (East Granby, Conn./East Granby) was just 0.14 meters away from breaking his own school record in the javelin as he posted a throw of 63.70 to win the event at Middlebury (Vt.). His throw was more than four and a half meters better than any other mark in the conference this season. Vermont heads to the Wildcat Invitational this weekend in Durham, N.H.