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After a brief hiatus following the indoor season, several University of Maine track team members got an early start to the outdoor season with a meet all the way across the country at the California State University, Northridge. All of UMaine’s qualifiers for the Eastern College Athletic Conference and Inter Collegiate Association of Amateur Athletics of America meets competed at the meet.
One competitor who was not at the ECAC meet, and not even a recognized Black Bear during the indoor season, was senior Lindsay Burlock, who had used all of her indoor eligibility but has a season of outdoor elegibility remaining. Burlock ran the 400- and 200-meter dashes finishing 5th and 10th, respectively.
“I wanted to run a faster 400 at Northridge and was disappointed at first, but I need to put into perspective that it is my first outdoor race, and it’s a much faster starting point than last year,” Burlock said.
Freshman Jesse Labreck also missed out on a large part of the indoor season. After a brief stint, Labreck was sidelined with mono and forced to sit out the remainder of the season. Highly touted out of Messalonskee High School in Oakland, ME, Labreck wasted little time making an impact for the women at Northridge, finishing 4th in the long jump with a leap of 5.48 meters and 5th in the 100-meter hurdles in 14.81 seconds.
Two lady Black Bears who have been anchors for the women’s team all year, Allyson Howatt and Vicki Tolton, finished well for the team. Tolton, the reigning conference champion in the 400, opted to run the 200-meter dash instead, finishing 2nd in 24.85 seconds. Howatt, the conference champion in the 100 and 200, took 4th in the 100-meter dash (12.33 seconds), and 2nd in the 400-meter dash (55.71).
“I haven’t put too much energy into worrying about being a defending champion,” Howatt said. “All I can do is prepare for the races and run to win. There may be a target on my back, but that’s for everyone else to worry about.”
Other top finishers for the UMaine women included Rebecca Even, who took second in the hammer throw, setting a school record with a heave of 171′ 3″. Junior Vanessa Letourneau was the fourth place finisher in the 800- and 3,000-meter runs, and freshman Corey Conner took 2nd place in the 1500-meterrun. The women’s 4×100 team also set a school record in 47.31 seconds to bring home 2nd place.
The men sent a smaller contingent of runners but were still able to put up respectable performances. Freshman Riley Masters, the America East Most Outstanding Rookie for the indoor season, got his first outdoor season started with wins in the 1,500- and 5,000-meter runs.
“I want to focus on the 1500 for the rest of the year so I can continue to build speed,” Masters said. “The 1500 record might be a little out of reach this season, but hopefully I can break it before I graduate.”
Masters, who won the 3,000-meter run at the indoor America East championships, also considered the 3,000-meter steeplechase a possibility.
“I have given some consideration to the steeple, but the decision is up to the coaches,” Masters said. “Miles [Bartlett] has established himself as one of the best steeple runners in the conference, so I would have a great training partner if I ever get a chance to try it.”
Jhamal Fluellen, Landis Williams and Travis Cook led the sprint crew. Williams took 13th in the 100 and 25th in the 200, while Fluellen earned 14th in the 100 and 18th in the 200. Cook came away with 11th place in the 400 in 49.51 seconds.
The next meet for the Black Bears, a dual meet against UNH, will be at home and is scheduled for March 28. A dual meet against UNH was scheduled to open the 2008 outdoor season, but it was cancelled due to unfit conditions on the track.
Bangor Daily News