INDOOR TRACK UNDERWAY AT NEC CHAMPIONSHIPS; DOYLE WINS 3000

February 20, 2010

BRYANT MEN'S AND WOMEN'S INDOOR TRACK OPENS NEC CHAMPIONSHIPS SATURDAY
Freshman Deirdre Doyle Wins 3000m

Live Updates of Results: http://cfpitiming.com/liveresults/index.htm

LANDOVER, Md. - The Bryant University men's and women's indoor track & field teams opened the 2010 Northeast Conference Indoor Track & Field Championship in strong fashion Saturday.  The Bulldogs saw several athletes qualify for Sunday's finals in several events and one crowned conference champion.

Freshman Deirdre Doyle (Carlow, Ireland) claimed Bryant's first conference title by winning the women's 3000 meters.  Doyle, the school record holder in the event, took first overall with a run of 10 minutes, 1.44 seconds, finishing ahead of Quinnipiac's Morgan Roche who was second in 10:03.21 and Sacred Heart's Kim DeLoretto who finished third in 10:04.80.

Leading the way for the men in early action on Saturday was the standout tandem of Alex Engel (Spencer, Mass.) and Thomas O'Connor (Westwood, Mass.).  Engel, a senior, placed first in the first heat of the men's 400 trials in a time of 50.29 seconds. The result, the fourth-fastest of the combined heats, qualifies Engel for Sunday's finals of the 400 meter at 1 pm.  O'Connor, running in the same heat, will join Engel for Sunday's final as the junior took second of the same heat as Engel in a time of 51.10 seconds, good enough to qualify.

Mike DiBella (Upper Saddle River, N.J.) ran well in the prelims of the men's 500 meters.  The junior finished third in the first heat (7th fastest overall) in a time of 1:07.30, qualifying him for Sunday's finals of the 500 meters at 1:20 pm.

In the men's 60 meter hurdles, sophomore Anthony Monteiro (Leominster, Mass.) just missed qualifying for the finals after finishing third in heat 1 in a time of 8.70 seconds. 

Others competing Saturday included Austin Huminski (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) and John Mitton (North Reading, Mass.) in the men's 800 meter prelims.  Huminski finished ninth in the fourth heat in 2:04.13 while Mitton was eighth in the third heat in 2:05.30.

In the men's mile, Ryan Busby (Derry, N.H.) took fourth in the second heat in 4:23.75 while teammate Scott Twardowski (Rehoboth, Mass.) was sixth in heat 3 in 4:25.79.

In the men's 200 meter prelims, the Bulldogs posted solid times but narrowly missed out on qualifying for the finals.  O'Connor took second in his heat in 22.79, just shy of earning a spot in the finals.  Engel placed third in heat 4 in 22.83 while Joe Pugliano (West Springfield, Mass.), competing in his first conference championship, came in at 23.76.

In the men's long jump, Chris Brida (Southampton, Mass.) did not earn a mark after fouling in his attempts while teammate Andrew Fitzgerald (New Hartford, Conn.) tied for 11th overall with a mark of 21 feet, 2.75 inches.  Brida will compete in the triple jump Sunday at 1:30 pm.

In the women's 800 meters, Kat Ragone (Bourne, Mass.) finished 8th in her heat in 2:31.95 while Molly Tower (Harwinton, Conn.) placed ninth in the second heat in 2:33.80.

The Bulldog women saw two freshman earn qualifying times in the women's mile as rookie standout Doyle finished first in heat three of the mile prelims in a time of 5:12.19, sending her to Sunday's finals at 12:30 pm. Doyle's time was the fastest of the day, just ahead of Sacred Heart's DeLoretto who came in at 5:13.83. 

A week ago, Doyle set a school record in the mile at the BU Valentine Invitational with a time of 5:00.15.   Teammate Meagan Robertson (Sewell, N.J.), also a newcomer, earned a spot in Sunday's finals in the mile with a time of 5:19.07 in the prelims.