INDOOR TRACK & FIELD SETS TOP MARKS AT HARVARD OPEN SATURDAY
December 12, 2009
INDOOR TRACK PICKS UP TOP MARKS AT HARVARD OPEN
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| Senior Alex Engel (above) joined Tom O'Connor in qualifying for the New England Championships in the 200 meters and the 4x400 relay at Saturday's Harvard Open. |
BOSTON - The Bryant men's and women's indoor track & field teams have enjoyed a tremendous amount of success at Harvard's Gordon Track over the years and Saturday was no different as the Bulldogs turned in several strong performances at the 2009 Harvard Open.
Leading the way for the Bulldogs was freshman standout Deirdre Doyle who smashed the Bryant school indoor 3,000 meter record and earned herself a trip to the New England Indoor Championships. Competing in her first indoor meet of the season, Doyle's second-place time of 10:07:04 Saturday at Harvard beat former standout Nicole Radzik's 2006 time of 10:35.3 and nearly made qualifying standards for the ECAC championships.
Sprinter Sherika Nicholas had several strong performances as well as the junior placed fourth in the finals of heat three of the 200 meters in 27.55. It was the 15th best time in the event on the day. Teammate Meagan Evans was first (45th overall) in heat 11 of the 200m in 28.85.
Nicholas placed 18th overall (2nd in her heat) in the 60 meters in 8.45 seconds.
Newcomer Amanda Dilley earned a solid second-place finish in the 60 meter hurdles in 9.79 seconds - ninth fastest of the prelims. In the finals, she finished third in heat two, eighth overall, in 9.73 seconds. Earlier Dilley placed 26th in the 60 meters in 8.56 seconds.
Other highlights include Katie Pelletier's 17th finish (5th in heat 3) in the 400 meters in 1:03.78. Kim Warner was 27th overall in 1:05.41. Jennifer Denise was 33rd in 800m in 2:42.22 while in the high jump Melanie Farbotko cleared 1.55 meters to place 7th (10th overall) with Laura Weeks taking 12th overall, also clearing 1.55 meters.
Kim Warner was 14th in the long jump (4.86 meters) while Amy Hutchinson was 21st in the long jump (4.67) and 18th in the triple jump (9.76 meters).
On the men's side, Chris Brida turned in a new personal best mark in the triple jump, placing fourth overall at 13.90 meters while earlier took 10th in the long jump at 6.47 meters.
Scott Twardowski had a fine race in the 5,000, turning in a new personal best with a sixth-place finish in 15:36.48. Teammate Ben Coughlin was 14th in 16:04.66.
Senior Alex Engel and Thomas O'Connor had a strong meet in the sprints. Engel placed 13th overall and was second in heat two of the 200 meters in 22.67 seconds while O'Connor was fifth in the finals of heat one (6th overall) in 22.33 seconds. Bot h were New England Championship qualifying times.
In the 60 meters, O'Connor was second in heat nine in 7.27 and earned a spot in the finals where he placed eighth in 7.30.
Both O'Connor and Engel teamed up with Michael DiBella and Joe Pugliano to earn a second-place finish in the 4x400 meter relay in a New England Championship qualifying time of 3:23.50. Engel was not done as the Spencer, MA native also picked up a first-place finish in heat 11 of the 400 meters 6th fastest time in the meet) in 50.74 seconds.
DiBella would add a fourth-place finish in the 500 meters on the day, finishing in 1:06.36. Ryan Busby was fifth in his heat and sixth overall in the 3,000 meters in 8:58.81 while Anthony Monteiro earned a spot in the finals of the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 8.66 in the prelims and 8.61 finish in the finals for fifth overall.
The Bulldogs be idle for the holidays and will return to action on January 23 when the women travel to the University of Rhode Island. The men will get back into action Jan. 30 at Boston University.
