April 25, 2006

Full CTC Championship Results

The Sacred Heart University men and women's track and field teams competed in the Collegiate Track Conference (CTC) Championships at DeSales University on Saturday and Sunday, April 22-23. The Sacred Heart women won their 9th consecutive CTC Championship, scoring 224.5 points to easily outdistance a field of 18 teams. The Sacred Heart men also won out over an 18 team field with 139 points. For the men, it was their 5th team CTC Championship in the past 9 years.

The women earned their team victory by winning eight events, placing 2nd in five others, and 3rd in another six. Sophomore Jamie Kilis returned from an injury to compete for the first time this outdoor season, and came away with two individual wins, plus a 3rd and an 8th place, to rack up 27 points for the Pioneers. Kilis won the javelin on Saturday with a throw of 127' 5", and then won the high jump with a 5' 5" leap on Sunday.

Kilis tied her own outdoor school record with her high jump clearance, and she automatically qualified for the New England Championships in both events. She also moved into 1st place on the Northeast Conference (NEC) list in the high jump and 5th in the javelin. In addition to her javelin points, Kilis scored in the shot put and hammer as part of a 91 point scoring barage by the women in the throwing events.

Sophomore Marsha Locke led a 1-2-3-4-6 finish by the women, with her third win of the season in the shot put. Locke threw 44' 10 1/4" for the victory followed by classmates Lenahndem Tankeng (2nd, 39' 7 1/4"), Kilis (3rd, 39' 4"), Balkis Bernard (4th, 38' 7 1/2"), and Christine Yakubec (6th, 36' 9 1/2").

In the hammer throw, Tankeng took 2nd with a 136' 4" fling, followed by Yakubec in 6th, Locke in 7th, and Kilis in 8th. In the discus it was Yakubec who spun her way to a 2nd place finish with a mark of 129' 2", followed by classmate Sarah Hickman (3rd, 125' 6"), Locke (4th, 124' 0"), and Tankeng (5th, 114' 0"). Kilis was backed up in the javelin by Locke in 3rd, junior Erin Spilka in 6th, Tankeng in 7th, and Hickman in 8th. In the high jump, Kilis was followed by classmates Brianne Hudak (4th, 5' 1"), and Melissa Kostan (tie for 5th, 4' 11").

On the track, Kostan notched her third win of the season in the 400 meter hurdles with a 1:06.15 clocking, and then placed 3rd in the 100 hurdles in 15.76, followed by Hudak in 6th with seasonal best of 16.30. Senior quad captain Amanda Lee recorded the first individual victory of her college career with a 5 second personal best in the 800 meters of 2:20.87. She was followed by junior Stephanie Oberheim in 2nd (2:24.12), and sophomore Margarita Landelius in 6th (2:29.80).

Junior Kathleen Duffy led a 1-2-3 sweep in the 1500 meters, winning easily with a seasonal best time of 4:53.22. She was followed by freshman Kathleen Henry (2nd, 5:01.61), and her twin sister Anne Duffy (3rd, 5:05.82). Senior quad-captain Jessica Mugavero chipped in 9 points with a seasonal best of 26.79 for 4th in the 200 meters, and 5th in the 100 meters (13.12).

In the 3000 meter steeplechase freshman Brooke Palmer ran a personal best of 12:19.78 to place 3rd, while junior Kathryn O'Connor placed 6th in 13:06.78. Junior Julia Mahoney ran a personal best 20:10.34, and senior Ann Regan a seasonal best 20:16.62 to place 6th and 7th respectively in the 5000 meters and round out the individual scoring for the Sacred Heart women.

The final two wins for the women came in the relays. A team consisting of Mugavero, Lee, Oberheim and Kostan took home gold in the 4 x 400 meter relay with a season's best time of 4:05.41. Sacred Heart also captured the 4 x 800 meter relay title with a team consisting of senior quad-captain Jenna Pisani, freshman Caitlin Manchester, and Kathleen and Anne Duffy. The quartet clocked in at 9:58.56, with Pisani (2:26.0) and Manchester (a personal best 2:26.8) running the fastest splits. Finally, a team consisting of Lee, Kostan, Mugavero, and junior Katrina Brown crossed the finish line in 4th in the 4 x 100 meter relay with a time of 51.60.

The men combined five individual wins, along with two 2nd place finishes, and five 3rd place finishes en route to the overall team title. Senior quad captain Evan Lasher led the way, scoring 38 of the Pioneers 139 points with three individual titles, and one 2nd place finish. Lasher won the shot put (54' 7 1/2"), the discus (165' 9"), and the hammer throw (a season's best 162' 1"), and placed 2nd in the javelin (179' 8"). Other scorers in the throws included senior quad captain Christos Dimos 3rd place in hammer throw (147' 10"), a 5th by Dimos (45' 2 1/4") and a 6th by sophomore Michael Paradis (44' 7") in the shot put, and a 6th by freshman Brian Germain in the javelin (161' 9").

Germain also placed 3rd (4932 points) in the two-day decathlon competition, where classmate Thomas Hyatt recorded the first win of his college career with a 5134 point victory. Hyatt recorded a personal best by more than a foot during the decathlon in the pole vault of 12' 3 1/2", to move way up the NEC rankings to 7th for that event. Hyatt also continues to lead the NEC in the decathlon. Freshman Robert Congalton added a 6th place in the decathlon with 4315 points.

Sacred Heart's other individual win came on the track, where sophomore Arman Dixon emerged victorious in the 200 meter run with a 21.52 clocking. Dixon maintains a comfortable lead in the NEC rankings for the event. Dixon also anchored the men's 4 x 100 meter relay team to 3rd place in a time of 42.89.

Other members of the relay included senior quad captain Alonzo Meet, and sophomores Scott Giordano and Michael Barrett. The men's 4 x 800 meter relay team finished 2nd in a time of 8:02.42, to take over the NEC lead in the event, with sophomore Robert Boerjes leading off, followed by freshmen Joseph Palma, Joshua Barbara and Luis German. Palma ran a personal best split of 1:59.8, and German anchored in 1:59.0. Palma also chipped in a 3rd place finish in the 1500 meters with a time of 4:12.57, while German (4th, 1:57.72) and Boerjes (7th, 1:58.48) scored in the open 800 meters. Senior quad captain Tyler Arnett contributed a 3rd place in the 3000 meter steeplechase with a 10:00.51 clocking, and junior Robert McDermott placed 8th in a personal best 10:49.07. Sophomore Ian Straughter rounded out the top Sacred Heart performances, placing 4th in the pole vault with 13' 3" clearance.