Men's track and field finishes 14th at All New Englands

Four individual competitors and a relay team combined to score all twelve team points last Saturday, leading the men's track and field team to 14th place out of 31 teams at the All New Englands at Boston University. University of Connecticut won the meet with 166 points, easily beating UMass/Lowell (84), Northeastern (80), and Boston University (54). The Jumbos, anchored by strong performances by the team's three captains and several freshmen, notched a number of personal best results.

"Part of it was [the level of competition]," senior tri-captain Adam Sharp said. "But part of it is that it's the end of the season, and we've all been resting up and preparing for this all season."

The 4x400 relay team, consisting of sophomore Ray Carre and freshmen Trevor Williams, Pat Mahoney and Shawn Hansberry, finished eighth in a season best 3:20.47, and also qualified for IC4A, an out of season competition. The result was particularly impressive because of Williams' late substitution in the event. Williams replaced senior tri-captain Greg Devine, who was feeling hip tenderness following his 55 meter hurdle event. Following last weekend's dominating win at the New England Div. III's, the team is looking strong heading into the ECAC's next week.

"The 4x400 was awesome," Carre said. "The freshmen were always there, they always put it on the line."

Carre also ran a career best in the 400 dash, running 49.37 seconds in the preliminaries and 49.44 in the finals to claim eighth place by just one fifth of a second. Mahoney also ran a career best 50.24, slicing off three-quarters of a second from his previous mark. Carre, now the second fastest Div. III 400 runner, beat out Colby's Xavier Garcia (49.63), exacting revenge for Garcia's win at the Div. III's.

"It was big for confidence," Carre said. "Xavier has been a constant opponent, always there, even through high school, and he's a great athlete. I'm really pleased with how things are going right now. The pace of the race dragged things out, and I stuck with it."

Senior tri-captains Greg Devine and Bryan Pitko placed fourth and eighth respectively in the 55 hurdles with times of 7.68 and 7.83. The pair earned a combined six points for the team, with Devine earning IC4A qualification. URI's Colin Aina won the event in 7.43.

Sophomore Nate Thompson, fresh off a strong second place finish in the long jump at the Div. III's, leapt 6.65 meters to claim fifth place. The jump, slightly down from last week's 6.95, earned Thompson four points.

Several other Jumbos notched personal records. Sophomore Michael Don ran 8:41.84 in the 3000, finishing 14th, while freshman pole vaulter Seth LaPierre cleared 4.45 meters, 16 centimeters higher than his best, set at the Div. III's. LaPierre tied for ninth with two other competitors, narrowly missing out on the scoring.

Senior tri-captain Adam Sharp (4:18.16) ran a career best in the one mile, a race won by Keene State's Mark Miller (4:07.29). Sharp, who finished 16th, also helped contribute to the 4x800 relay team's season best 7:53.90, nearly eleven seconds faster than last week's performance. Freshman Matt Lacey, sophomore Aaron Kaye and senior Jake Berman helped Sharp in achieving the result.

"We had gone into it hoping to break eight minutes," Sharp said. "We really destroyed them, it was awesome."

Sharp also had high praise for the distance medley relay team, comprised completely of freshmen this weekend. Freshmen Matt Lacey, Kyle Doran, and Neil Orfield joined Trevor Williams in pulling off a 10:25.26 finish.

"They ran really well against some tough opponents," Sharp said. "They really stepped up."

Carre agreed, believing the team will be a strong force in the future.

"In the next couple years, they'll be unbelievable," Carre said. "When I'm a senior, they'll be there."

With next weekend's ECAC's being hosted by the Jumbos, focus now turns to the opportunity to add names to the school record list in front of a home crowd. The meet is the final home meet of the indoor season, and the last of many athletes' careers.

"Well be putting together the fastest DMR team we can," Sharp said. "And I'll make a run for the school record [in the 1000]."

The men's track and field team competes this Friday and Saturday at the Gantcher Center.