Feb. 1, 2005

The Sacred Heart University men's and women's track and field teams traveled to Lehigh University for the 13th Annual John Covert Classic on Saturday, January 29. The men finished 2nd, and the women 3rd out of a field of 10 teams. The top 8 finishers in each event scored points on a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis, and the men lost only to host Lehigh (201.5 points). The Pioneer men scored 143.5 points to outdistance Delaware (138.5 points), St. Joseph's (PA) (57 points), and 6 other schools. With a score of 119 points the Sacred Heart women lost to Lehigh (220.5 points) and Towson (134.5 points), but topped Delaware (94 points) and six other schools.

The men were led individually by junior standout Evan Lasher, and freshman sensation Arman Dixon, who each recorded two individual victories. Freshmen Jared Maher and Michael Barrett also chipped in individual wins to give the men a total of 6 first places out of the 17 events contested. Freshmen Marsha Locke and Margarita Landelius each contributed individual first place finishes to lead the way for the women's side.

As is his custom, Lasher completely dominated the throwing events for the Pioneers. Lasher opened the meet with a huge personal best and new school record in the 35 pound weight throw of 58' 5 1/4" to win easily. Lasher set his old best of 56' 11 1/4" earlier in the month. With his latest bomb, Lasher surpassed the IC4A qualifying standard of 55' 1 1/2" for the 4th time in 5 tries this season, and he's creeping up on the NCAA provisional qualifying standard of 62' 4" in the event. He now leads the Northeast Conference (NEC) rankings in the weight throw by more than 7 feet, and he also ranks 1st amongst all New England schools. Lasher's junior teammate Christos Dimos continued his steady improvement in the weight throw by placing 4th with a personal best toss of 45' 7 1/4", and freshman Michael Paradis scored in 8th place with a 40' 3 1/2" all-time best.

In the shot put, Lasher won again with a heave of 55' 6 1/2" to help himself to a double win for the 4th time this season. He also topped the IC4A shot put qualifying standard of 50' 10 1/4" for the 5th time in 5 tries. Lasher still leads the NEC by more than 5 feet in the shot put, and ranks 2nd in New England. Dimos recorded another 4th place for the team in the shot put with a seasonal best 45' 7 3/4" mark.

Dixon notched the 6th and 7th individual wins of his young career in the 60 meter dash, and the long jump. In the dash Dixon blazed to 6.92 clock stopper, to finish just off his NEC list leading 6.88, while topping the IC4A standard of 6.98 for the 2nd time in as many tries. Dixon currently leads both the NEC and the New England rankings in the dash. Classmates Scott Giordano (7.08), and Michael Barrett (7.15) recorded personal bests over 60 meters, while scoring in fifth and 6th respectively. Giordano automatically qualified for the New England Championships, as he slipped just under the 7.09 standard for the meet. Dixon won the long jump for the third straight weekend with a 22' 4 1/2" effort, while Maher (4th place) and Barrett (8th place) contributed points in the event as well. Dixon currently ranks 1st in New England in the long jump, and 3rd in the NEC.

Later in the meet, it time for Barrett and Maher to shine, as they each recorded the first individual wins of their college careers. Barrett won the 200 meters in 22.99, to just miss the indoor personal best of 22.93 he set a week earlier on Boston University's banked 200 meter oval. More impressively, it was the fastest indoor 200 ever run by a Pioneer on an unbanked track. Maher notched his win in the triple jump, when he hopped, skipped and jumped to an indoor personal best of 44' 4 3/4". Maher's old indoor best (43' 5") fell easily, and he now ranks 4th in the NEC and fifth in New England. Sophomore Christopher Eck took 3rd behind Maher in the triple jump and he also tied for 5th in the pole vault with a 13' 0" clearance.

Other scorers for the Sacred Heart men included senior co-captain Gregg Curley, who placed 3rd in the high jump and 4th the 60 meter hurdles, along with sophomore Alonzo Meek who placed 5th in the hurdles. Freshman Peter Saretto raced to 4th in the 400 meters, while senior Todd Brownell, graduate student Andrew Renna, and freshman Stephen Zito raked in 3rd, 5th and 6th place points, respectively, in the 500 meters. Finally, senior co-captain Michael Hannon placed 8th in the 5000 meters. In relay action, the 4 x 400 relay team of Curley, freshmen Robert Boerjes and Konstantin Tartakovsky, and junior Michael Moloney placed 3rd, while junior Robert Howard teamed up with Renna, Zito and Brownell for 3rd in the 4 x 800 meter race.

For the women, Marsha Locke recorded the 2nd win of her collegiate career in the shot put with a 40' 3 1/2" toss, while leading a 1-2-3-5 all freshmen finish in the event. Classmates Balkis Bernard (38' 9"), Lenahndem Tankeng (38' 7 3/4"), and Christine Yakubec (37' 10") placed 2nd, 3rd and 5th respectively, as the Pioneer women tallied 28 points in the one event. Locke also led a strong showing for the women in the 20 pound weight throw, as she placed 4th in a personal best 43' 3". Tankeng improved her personal best by nearly 4 feet to place 5th with a 42' 3 1/2" mark, and Yakubec was close behind in 6th with a 41' 2 1/4" measurement.

Freshman Margarita Landelius led the way on the track for the women with her first individual collegiate win. Landelius ran the 500 meters in 1:23.50 to take the victory, and she was backed up by sophomore Stephanie Oberheim who placed 7th.

Freshman Brianne Hudak also had a big meet for the women. She competed on Friday evening at Lehigh in the pentathlon, placing 5th with a personal best of 2823 points. More importantly, Hudak surpassed the automatic qualifying standard of 2800 points for the New England Championships in the 5-event multi-competition, while recording the second best pentathlon score in school history. Classmate Melissa Kostan also scored in the pentathlon for the women, with a 2603 point 8th place effort. This was also a personal best for Kostan. On Saturday, Kostan came back to place 4th in the high jump (5' 1 3/4"), and Hudak came back to place 6th in the triple jump behind sophomore Taneisha Cantave, who placed 4th.

In other Saturday action, junior Jenna Pisani ran a 16 second personal best of 10:47.39 to place 3rd in the 3000 meters, and sophomore Kathleen Duffy took 3rd in the mile with a 5:23.64 clocking. In the 5000 meters, sophomore Kathryn O'Connor finished 6th in a 45 second indoor personal best of 19:29.26, while junior Ann Regan knocked 7 seconds off her all-time best to place 7th in 19:32.17.

The Sacred Heart women also scored points in the 400 meters, where juniors Amanda Lee and Jessica Mugavero placed 3rd and 6th respectively, and freshman Jessica Murphy placed 8th. Murphy also snagged an 8th place in the high jump, while senior co-captain Frances Bundy placed 8th in the 200 meter race. Finally, sophomore Lauren DellaVolpe finished 6th in the 800, and freshman Carly Alvernaz scored her first individual collegiate points with a 5th place showing in the 60 meter hurdles. In relay action, the 4 x 800 meter relay of Duffy, sophomore Erin Spilka, Oberheim and Landelius finished 2nd, while the 4 x 400 meter relay team of Lee, Kostan, DellaVolpe and Bundy placed 4th.