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Sometimes all a team needs to perform at their best is a nice boost of confidence before a major competition. With Boston’s Reebok Indoor Games looming on the horizon, the University of Maine chose to pencil in a meet at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, to keep themselves sharp and build confidence going into next weekend.
Both teams came up big, with several runners competing in multiple events. UMaine took home wins in 11 out of the 19 events contested on the men’s side, led by freshman Jamie Ruginski, a Bonny Eagle High School product, who competed in four total events.
Ruginski earned second place finishes in the long and triple jumps with leaps of 21-08.75 and 44-10.75, respectively. He also took third in the 55-meter hurdles (8.07), and earned a victory as part of an exciting 4×400-meter relay team that saw post-graduate Skip Edwards race past the University of Southern Maine’s anchor leg in the final stretch to squeeze out one of many UMaine triumphs on the day.
Edwards also won the 600-meter dash in 1:22.70, marking a definite upswing in sprint participation compared to the Dartmouth meet last weekend. In the short races, Maine got a win from senior Landis Williams in his first action of the indoor season. Williams won the 55-meter dash (6.60), freshman James Reed won the 55-meter hurdles (7.75) and sophomore Brian Martel claimed a victory in the 400 (51.28).
In the distance events, sophomore Riley Masters tripled up, winning the 1,000-meter run in 2:29.17 and the one mile run in 4:17.47, and also earning third as part of a distance medley relay team.
Miles Bartlett, also a part of the medley, turned in a solid win in the 3,000-meter run after an uncharacteristic week at Dartmouth, crossing first in 8:46.78. He was followed closely by sophomore Dave Currier at 8:48.04.
At 5,000-meters, sophomore Spencer McElwain (15:46.49) and senior Corey Bean (16:06.48), coming off a knee injury that sidelined him for much of the season, finished 2-3 to pile on points for the Black Bears.
In the field, freshman Jadrien Cousens earned first place points in the high jump for the second week in a row, this time at 6-04. The event was actually won with a jump of 6-04.75 by former Black Bear and America East champion Jeff Ramos, competing unattached.
Sophomore Trevor England also doubled up, winning the long and triple jumps with bounds of 21-09.50 and 46-2.75.
The total team showing earned UMaine 244 points and a convincing win over Bates, USM, and Colby College.
The women’s team fared even better, scoring at will in nearly every event. The lady Black Bears took the top three spots in the 55-meter dash, 55-meter hurdles, 1,000-meter run and 5,000-meter run.
UMaine got major performances from sophomores Shaniqua Burgess (1st 55m, 7.26 and 4×200 relay), Katherine McGeoghan (1st 55m hurdles, 8.70), Corey Conner (1st one mile run, 5:03.75, 2nd 1,000-meter run, 2:59.56) and Jesse Labreck (1st high jump, 5-06, long jump 18-07, and 4×400 relay), and seniors Ally Howatt (1st 400m, 58.41, 4×400 relay) and Vanessa Letourneau (1st 1,000-meter run, 2:58.30, 3,000-meter run 10:30.96).
“I think the freshmen are definitely helping the team this year, because we all have different talents,” freshman sprinter Danielle Hutchins said. “I think the sudden burst of success in our sprint group is because we are there to help each other. We work as a team.”
Shaniqua Burgess, a sophomore, came within four hundredths of a second of the 55-meter-dash record held by Howatt, a senior, but she wasted no time staking a claim to the 4×200-meter relay record along with senior Kelsey Bilouris, Hutchins, and sophomore Jillian O’Brien. The quartet laid down a time of 1:43.15 to best the old mark by a second and a half.
“One of my goals for the season is to break the school record in the 55 dash, and by the rate I’m going I feel very confident that will happen,” said Burgess. “I believe if I continue to work hard … my future is very bright.”
Heading into the Boston Indoor Games next week, the future looks brighter than ever for the Black Bears, who are finally looking like a deep, complete team on the track and in the field.
“I believe it’s from us learning and understanding the talent we truly have, and not taking it for granted,” Burgess declared. “I also believe it’s from us being able to trust one another, and knowing that we have one main goal together, and that’s to be the best.”
The Indoor Games will take place at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston on Friday, Jan. 29, at 4:00 p.m.
