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The University of Maine Indoor Track team took in their last competition on Saturday before the America East championship meet, heading to Boston University for the Valentine’s Invitational.
The meet marked a major jump in the level of competition Maine has faced in recent weeks, with dozens of teams from the US and Canada laying down impressive times, distances and heights.
The Black Bears notched several impressive performances of their own, rearranging the record books in the process, as four new marks were set, and two old ones were tied.
Sophomore Riley Masters ruled the day, running the first sub-four minute mile in University of Maine history. His efforts won the men’s mile and set an emphatic tone for the weeks ahead.
Masters had said recently that he has “something big” planned, but refused to say exactly what he had in mind.
Despite starting near the back of the pack, Masters quickly worked his way up to the middle at the end of the first 400 meters, which came through in a brisk 58 seconds. Masters held that position through the next 400 meters, coming through in 59 seconds.
At 1,200 meters, with three minutes on the timer, Masters made the boldest move of the race, cutting out in front of Canadian runner Olivier Collin and surging ahead to take a slim lead on front-runner Brad Miller of Syracuse University with two laps to go. Masters came through the penultimate lap at 3:30.
With a sub-four time within reach, Masters willed himself through the last 200 meters to finish in 3:59.97. He raised his hands in victory, but jumped with surprise when he saw that he had also finished under four minutes.
“I just got through the first 1,200 and I just didn’t know, it was just a lot faster than I’d ever been through there before,” said Masters still breathing heavily. “When I saw that I just knew that if I was that close I might as well go for it. I just tried to close hard and … the last hundred meters was awful, but I just tried to struggle through it.”
“I felt like I was on top of the world for a while. I thought I could do anything after that.” Masters said.
The time, which Masters likened to a pitcher throwing a no-hitter, qualified him provisionally for the NCAA championships.
Sophomore Jesse Labreck was the big winner for the Black Bears on the women’s side. After breaking her own record in the preliminary heats with a 7.93, her 7.82 second finish in the 55-meter hurdles edged out the rest of the field and set the new record four-hundredths of a second lower than it was at the beginning of the season.
“I’m really happy with how this year has been going and my accomplishments so far. I think I’m still somewhat in shock,” Labreck said.
“I’m just taking it all one step at a time and doing what [sprint coach Dave Cusano] tells me to do. I’m very prepared,” she added.
Sophomore Shaniqua Burgess, whose stated goal earlier this season was to break the 55-meter dash record set by then-junior Ally Howatt, tied the record with a 7.22 finish, earning fifth place.
Another Howatt record was in jeopardy, as well as Cearha Miller’s 24.65-second 200-meter dash time was just five-hundredths of a second off the mark. That time put her at fifth in the event.
Junior James Berry also rewrote his name in the record book, breaking his own record in the pole vault by going up and over 15-09. Senior Mark Liimakka’s fifth place vault of 15-05 tied the old record as well.
The women’s distance medley relay team, which does not run regularly, bested the standing mark in the event by 37 seconds, as seniors Jordan Daniel (1,200), Ally Howatt (400), junior Vanessa Letourneau (800), and sophomore Corey Conner (1,600) won the event in 11:35.
Freshman James Reed matched a record that has stood at UMaine for 30 years, after hurdling his way to a 7.64 second sixth-place finish. His father, Ben, is the current record holder.
And finally, freshman Jamie Ruginski’s 23-foot leap in the long jump was good for a spot atop the podium as well.
The upgrade in competition took its toll on some athletes, whose times were much better than their final places might indicate. Skip Edwards pulled out a blistering 48.84 second 400-meter dash, and his time was good for 17th place. There were nearly 200 sprinters in the event.
Vanessa Letourneau’s 13th place, 2:12.75 finish in the 800 came among a field of 165 runners.
Coming off another excellent individual and team performance, the Black Bears will head into the America East conference championships at Boston University next weekend. The meet starts Feb. 19 at 10 a.m.
