May 3, 2008

NEC Championship Day 1 Results

MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (May 3, 2008) - The Sacred Heart men's and women's track & field teams wrapped up day one of the Northeast Conference Championship both in second place heading into Sunday's final day of competition. The SHU men collected 42 points while the women 51.50 points in six scored events.

Sacred Heart senior Marsha Locke (Danbury, CT) successfully defended her shot put crown from a year ago, besting last year's winning throw by more than one meter. The event's top three finishers all surpassed the qualifying standard for the NCAA East Region Championships led by Locke's mark of 14.99m (49' 2.25"). Locke also took third in the hammer throw with a toss of 52.45m (172'01").

Sacred Heart received another repeat performance from sophomore high jumper Brittany Dexter (Ballston Lake, NY). Clearing 1.70m (5' 7") for the second consecutive year here, Dexter produced a seasonal best while meeting the qualifying standard for the ECAC Championships. SHU grad student Anne Duffy (Monroe, CT) took third in the 10,000 meters with a time of 38:40.20.

Freshman Angelica Johnson (Little Ferry, NJ) will compete in the finals of the 100 meter dash and the 200 meters on Sunday. Johnson advanced to the finals of the 100 meters after tying for the second fastest qualifying time at 12.54 seconds. In the 800 meters, sophomore Sarah Tencza (Succasunna, NJ) moves on to the final on Sunday.

SHU will have three runners in the finals of both the 100 meter and 400 meter hurdles with senior Melissa Kostan (Salem, NY), junior Sarana Hyatt (St. Albans, NY) and sophomore Bonnie Kilis (Marlborough, CT) all making the cut.

Coming off an extraordinary NEC Indoor championship meet that resulted in a third MVP award, SHU senior Arman Dixon (Beacon, NY/Beacon) began his bid for outdoor MVP honors in the long jump. Surpassing the NCAA regional standard, Dixon long jumped 7.35m (24' 1.50") to emerge victorious.

Dixon will run in the finals of the 100 meter dash (11.05q), 200 meters (21.28q) and 400 meters (47.31q) on Sunday. Junior Luis German (Southampton, NY) will compete in the finals of the 800 meters (1:54.73q) and the 1,500 meters (4:10.00q). The Pioneers will have a pair of runners in the 110 meter hurdles in freshman Peter Conti (Mansfield, MA) and sophomore Jason Soule (South Portland, ME), who ran 15.59q and 16:14q, respectively. Soule also advanced in the 400 meter hurdles (55.63q).

In the pole vault, SHU picked up a thrid and fourth place finish from senior Ian Straughter (Hackensack, NJ) and junior Thomas Hyatt (Hopewell Junction, NY). Straughter cleared the bar at 4.50m (14'9.00") while Hyatt cleared 4.40m (14'5.25").

In the 10,000 meters, junior Brendan Rickert (Danbury, CT) finished fourth with a time of 33:06.26 while senior David Jones (Ballston Lake, NY) took sixth 33:34.26.