Recently in Women's Track and Field Outdoor Category

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Among three freshmen, Ricketts earns honors at 100 meters and with relay

Nine members of women's team also compete in regional championship

  SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - Freshman Andrew Ricketts (Hartsdale, NY) ran to All-New England honors at 100 meters and with the 4x100 meter relay team Saturday at the 2009 New England Division III Men's Track and Field Championships at Blake Track on the Springfield College campus.

At left: Andrew Ricketts

Ricketts followed up winning the Little East Conference 100 meter championship a week ago by placing third in a time of 11.21 in an original field of 23 at the New England meet, Ricketts won his heat in a time of 10.98, and had the third-best time overall in the preliminaries.

Ricketts also ran the third leg of the 4x100 meter relay which also gained All-New England honors with a sixth-place finish in a time of 43.42. Ricketts was among three freshmen on the All-New England relay and was joined by Nick Pates (East Haven), Alex Springer (Willimantic) and sophomore anchor Mike D'Elia (Windham).

Also competing in the championship: freshman Stephen Spranzo (Colchester) was tenth in a field of 23 in the 3,000 steeplechase (9:53.56); freshman Alex Springer (Willimantic) tied for tenth in the long jump in a field of 29 (21-6) on Friday; and D'Elia placed 19th among 19 in the 400 hurdles (1:00.41).

Nine members of the women's team also competed in the New England Division III meet, none attaining All-New England status. Those competing: juniors Erika Barber (Portland) in the pole vault, Sandra Brautigam (Scotland) in the 100 hurdles, Monica Mills (East Hartford) in the triple jump, Nicole Stefanik (Coventry, RI) in the javelin throw, Kelsey Watson (Bristol, NH), freshman Steph Canada (Cheshire) in the high jump and Sarah Joy (Stratford) in the 100 hurdles. Sophomore Roxanne Atterbury (Manchester), freshman Elise Zarcaro (Enfield), Brautigam and Stefanik also teamed on the 4x100 relay. Stefanik replaced Watson on the 4x400.

Nine men  have also qualified to compete in next weekend's New England Open  Friday and Saturday at the University of Massachusetts. Pates, Springer, Ricketts, D'Elia and Spranzo are scheduled to compete in the same events as this past weekend. Joining them will be senior Matt Pyne (Wallingford) in the pole vault, juniors David Hunt (New Milford) in the 5000 and Sam Buczek (Milford) in the 10,000, and freshman Steven Clayton (North Haven) in the 800.

Competing for the women will be juniors Alexis Cavanaugh (Cheshire) in the 10,000; Watson in the 100, 200 and 400; Mills in the triple jump and 400 hurdles; Brautigam and freshman Joy in the 100 hurdles, and Barber in the pole vault.  Atterbury, Watson, Mills and Brautigam will also team on the 4x100.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Junior captures six individual honors in sprints, and three with two relays

                                                                            Kelsey Watson (below)

WESTFIELD, Mass. --  Eastern Connecticut State University junior Kelsey Watson (Bristol, NH) accumulated all-conference and all-alliance honors six times in three sprint events and also gained recognition  with two relays at the New England Alliance/Little East Conference Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championship Saturday at the Jerry Gravel Track on the campus of Westfield State College.

Watson placed second at 200 and 400 meters and third at 100 meters in conference scoring and was second in the 400, fifth in the 200 and eighth in the 100 in alliance scoring. She also ran the third leg of the 4x400 meter relay which placed third in both conference and alliance scoring and ran anchor on the 4x100 relay which gained all-conference laurels. In the meet, Watson qualified for this weekend's New England Division III Championship at both 100 and 200 meters.

As a team, Eastern finished third in a six-team Little East Conference field and was fifth among 11 New England Alliance squads. Six Little East Conference (LEC)  teams are joined by five members of the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) to form the New England Alliance (NEA).

The University of Southern Maine posted a 26-point win over runner-up Rhode Island College to win its tenth straight Little East Conference title and 11th in the 12-year history of the championship. In the alliance scoring, Westfield State outdistanced Southern Maine by 26 ½ points to unseat the nine-time defending champion Huskies.

The top eight individuals in NEA scoring are named All-NEA and the first three finishers in Little East scoring are recognized as All-LEC. The first three relays receive honors in both the NEA and LEC scoring.

First-year junior Alexis Cavanaugh (Cheshire) won the program's one individual title. In her first official race at 10,000 meters, Cavanaugh outran a field of ten in alliance scoring and bested a field of three to win the conference race in a time of 43:01.91.  It marked the third straight year that an Eastern runner won both the alliance and conference titles at that distance, following Nidia Gonzalez Lopes.

In all, Watson was named all-conference and all-alliance a total of nine times, while junior Monica Mills (East Hartford) gained all-conference and all-alliance accolades in the 400 meter hurdles and joined Watson on both relays. The meet winner at 800 meters last year, sophomore Karina Johnson (East Hartford) repeated all-alliance honors by finishing seventh at that distance, and was also all-alliance by placing seventh at 1,500 meters. Johnson earned both honors as a freshman at 1,500 meters last year. She also ran the anchor on the 4x400 meter relay. In two previous meets in her career, Watson ran to all-alliance and all-conference honors a total of six times in the sprints.

Last year's meet champion in the pole vault, junior Erika Barber (Portland) finished second in the conference and alliance Saturday. In addition to Watson, Mills, and Cavanaugh, achieving all-alliance and all-conference honors were junior Sandra Brautigam (Scotland) in the 100 meter hurdles, freshman Steph Canada (Cheshire) in the high jump, sophomores Amanda Ericson (Bolton) and Melissa Healy (Naugatuck) at 10,000 meters. Junior Amy Jo Gould (Redding) and senior Nicole Stefanik (Coventry, RI)  joined Johnson as all-alliance performers in the 400 meter hurdles and in the discus, respectively. Stefanik was also a member of the 4x400  relay, and Brautigam and sophomore Roxanne Atterbury (Manchester) ran on the 4x100 relay which was named all-conference.

Canada qualified for the New England Division III Championship with her height of 4-11 in the high jump. She will compete at that championship this weekend at Springfield College along with Watson in the 100, 200 and 400, Barber in the pole vault, Brautigam and freshman Sarah Joy (Stratford) in the 100 hurdles, Mills in the triple jump, Stefanik in the javelin, and the 4x100, 400 and 800 relays.

Saturday, April  18, 2009

In final prep for LEC championship, six individuals set PRs at Springfield

                                                                                                      Sarah Joy (below)

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -  Freshman Sarah Joy (Stratford) set personal-best times  in the 100 meter hurdles and 200 meter dash - qualifying for post-season championship competition in the former -- as one of six individuals to establish new personal standards for the Eastern Connecticut State University women's track and field team Saturday at the Springfield College Invitational at Blake Track.

In its last scheduled meet prior to  Saturday's Little East Conference/New England Alliance Championship , Eastern placed sixth in a 12-team field. The Warriors totaled 35 ½ points in a meet won by MIT. The Engineers amassed 178 ½  points to edge host Springfield (163).

Joy set a personal-best time of 17.40 in the 100 hurdles in attaining the standard for participation in next month's New England Division III Championship. She was also one of four Eastern competitors in the 200 meter dash to post a personal-best time, along  with sophomore Roxanne Atterbury (Manchester), junior Sandra Brautigam (Scotland), and freshman Elise Zarcaro (Enfield).

Completing a strong performance on the afternoon was junior Kelsey Watson (Bristol, NH), who qualified for the New England Division III competition with a time of  1:01.62 at 400 meters, where she crossed the finish line in fifth place among 21 competitors. Watson also led five Eastern competitors   at 200 meters, posting a 12th-place finish.

 Senior Nicole Stefanik (Coventry, RI) and freshman Megan Wallace (Trumbull) also attained personal-best distances in the discus throw. Stefanik was sixth in the discus and fifth among 27 participants and fifth in the javelin in a field of 19. Stefanik has already qualified for the New England meet in the javelin.

In addition to Joy and Watson in individual events, the 4x400 meter relay eclipsed the New England Division III Championship barrier with a fifth-place time of 4:20.90.  Participants were Zarcaro, junior Monica Mills (East Hartford), Watson, and sophomore Karina Johnson (East Hartford).

Additional notable performances included Johnson in the 800, juniors Erika Barber (Portland) and Alexis Cavanaugh (Cheshire) and freshman Steph Canada (Cheshire). Johnson was seventh among 41 at 800 meters; Barber tied for third  in a field of 22 in the pole vault; Cavanaugh was fifth among 16 at 5,000 meters; and Canada shared fifth place in a field of 14 in the high jump.

Barber in the pole vault, Mills in the triple jump, Brautigam  in the 100 hurdles, and the 4x100 meter relay team had previously qualified for post-season competition.

Eastern enjoyed its most impressive team performance a year ago at the New England Alliance/Little East Conference Championship, when it placed second to the University of Southern Maine in both events. Westfield State College will host this year's event, beginning at 10:30 a.m.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

At second annual invite, three win titles and three establish personal bests

                                                                                                        Monica Mills (below)

MANSFIELD, Conn. - Junior Monica Mills (East Hartford) qualified for post-season competition in the triple jump for the third consecutive year at the Second Annual Eastern Connecticut State University Invitational in women's track and field Saturday at the Mansfield Outdoor Complex.

The non-scoring meet was held in a steady rain and included Smith College and Colby-Sawyer College.

Mills, who has qualified for New England Division III and New England Open competition in the triple jump in each of the previous two seasons, reached the New England Division III qualifying standard in the event with a winning jump of 35-3 ¼.

Additional Eastern individual winners included  sophomore Karina Johnson (East Hartford) at 800 meters (2:31.13) and freshman Steph Canada (Cheshire) in the high jump (4-10). Canada was competing in her first collegiate meet.

Establishing personal bests were sophomore Amanda Ericson (Bolton) at 5,000 meters, and freshman Megan Wallace (Trumbull) in the shot put and hammer throw.

Eastern competes at Springfield College Saturday at 11 a.m.

This post is a test of the new Athletics Blog in development.