Sports

Indoor Track: Big Green trip up Bears in dual meet

Young talent leads UMaine

Posted on Jan. 20, 2010, at 11:10 p.m.

The University of Maine indoor track team came off the long winter break looking to get back into the swing of competition on the road to the America East championships. The Black Bears headed to Hanover, N.H., for a dual meet with the Big Green of Dartmouth College.

With only a few sprinters spread out over various short distances, the men’s team relied heavily on the distance crew, including several in the 3,000-meter run.

That race, with four UMaine runners, featured a victory and record-setting performance by sophomore Riley Masters, who crossed the line in 8:14.15, besting the old record by a full three seconds.

“I know I have a long career ahead of me, but like every runner I’m looking to do something great every time I step on the track,” Masters said.

“It’s still early in the season, so I don’t have any real individual goals yet,” Masters said regarding more high-profile meets. “We’ll have to wait and see how I feel later in the season. Right now I am trying to do what I can for the team.”

Masters’ performance at home against the University of New Hampshire earned him America East performer of the week honors.

Sophomore Dave Currier placed third in the event in 8:47.92 and was most impressed with the Black Bears’ total team effort.

“Four guys ran the 3K in under nine minutes in the second meet of the year compared to two guys who managed that all last year,” Currier said.

All four of those runners are sophomores or younger.

In the sprints, the men got a victory from post-graduate Skip Edwards in the 500-meter dash. Edwards finished in 1:05.14. Senior Drew Horner managed third place in the 60-meter dash with a 7.15 second showing.

Freshman Arthur von Marschall was barely edged out in the 60-meter hurdles and settled for third place in 8.85 seconds.

Senior Miles Bartlett, who also ran the 3K (9:12.12), won the 800-meter run in 1:54.90.

In the field, freshman Jadrien Cousens leaped to victory in the high jump, going over the bar at 6’ 4.25”. Senior Mark Liimakka also took first place in the pole vault at 15-feet. Junior James Berry took third in the event with a vault at the same height.

Sophomore Trevor England pulled double duty in the field, taking second in the triple jump (45’ 2.5”) and third in the long jump, despite a tie with the second place finisher (21’ 8.75”).

Despite excellent individual performances, the men fell to Dartmouth 91.50 – 63.50.

The women’s team also relied heavily on their distance crew, especially at 3,000 meters. The Black Bears took the top five out of six spots in the event, led by sophomore Corey Conner, who finished in 9:54.16. Conner, also an America East weekly honoree, was followed by senior Jordan Daniel, who blew away her personal best time.

“The race was great. I surprised myself with a 26-second PR [personal record] from last year,” Daniel said. “The meet went very well, especially for our distance group.”

The women got plenty of help from the sprint events, as Shaniqua Burgess, Jillian O’Brien and Danielle Hutchins took the top three spots in the 60-meter dash. Burgess and O’Brien are sophomores. Hutchins is a freshman.

Freshman Cearha Miller won the 400-meter dash, and sophomore Jenny Lucy took first in the 800-meter run.

The women are not powered solely by their young talent as senior Vanessa Letourneau bumped up to the mile and flirted with the UMaine record, but her winning time of 4:58.77 was about three seconds off.

In the field, young talent reigned supreme, as Jesse Labreck took first in the long jump at 19’ 1.5”. She coupled that with a victory in the 60-meter hurdles, with a time of 8.50. Labreck’s record setting hurdle performance at the dual meet with UNH earned her America East weekly honors as well.

Freshman Shelby Tuttle took first in the triple jump at 36 feet, but UMaine fell to Dartmouth as well by a final of 78 – 69.

The Black Bears were supposed to be off this weekend but penciled in a dual meet at Bates College, which some athletes are sure will help prepare them for a long stretch of meets in Boston.

“It should be good for some of the team,” Currier said. “Some people will be trying events that they don’t normally do.”

The meet will be held this Saturday and should get UMaine started as they gear up for the Reebok Boston Indoor Games on Jan. 29.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 20th, 2010, 11:10 pm. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.