School and personal records were broken by the University of Maine men’s and women’s track and field teams at the NEICAAA indoor track and field championships at Boston University over the weekend.
On day one of the competition the men’s track and field team placed 13th with a total of six points on the day. The most notable finish for Maine was third-year Jesse Orach, as he finished in third place in the 5,000-meter, recording a time of 14:47.07. Another notable finisher was fourth-year runner Jake Leithiser. Leithiser placed eighth in the 400-meter with a time of 48.90, which was enough to qualify him for the finals in that event which took place the next day of the competition.
The women’s track and field team had a very strong first day at the NEICAAA. The team finished in an impressive third place at the end of day one, with a total of 18 points. Fourth-year Jaclyn Masters set yet another school record and won the event at the same time. She recorded 4.05 meters in the pole vault, and is officially first in the Maine indoor track and field record book in that event. Other notable finishers on the day included third-year Grace MacLean, as she placed fourth in the pentathlon, recording 3,451 points, which is now her personal record. On top of that, MacLean qualified herself for the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) meet. Second-year Ariel Clachar finished sixth in the long jump, jumping a total of 5.52 meters.
Two other notables for the women’s team was second-year Kaitlin Saulter, third-year Teal Jackson and second-year Grace Macura. Saulter finished eighth in the 500-meter with a time of 1:17.18, which qualifies her for the final event on Saturday. Jackson placed 13th in the 400-meter with a time of 56.77, while Macura finished 19th in the same event with a time of 57.66. Jackson and Macura both set personal records in that event, while Jackson qualified herself for the ECAC’s.
On day two of the championship, Leithiser continued his strong weekend on the men’s side. He finished in first place in the 400-meter, recording a time of 47.68. With that time, Leithiser broke the previously set record in 2008, and is now first all time at UMaine in that event.
Other notable individual finishers on day two for the men’s team was second-year Tyler Martin, third-year Asaad Hicks, third-year Jacob Johns and third-year Levi Frye. Martin came in third place in the high jump (1.99 m), while Hicks came in eighth in the same event (1.94 m). Johns placed eighth in the one-mile run with a time of 4:12.31, while Frye placed 11th in the same event with a time of 4:13.72. Those times for Johns and Frye were both runners personal records, and they also both qualified for the IC4A’s.
The men’s 4×400-meter relay team came in seventh place in their event on Saturday. The team was made up of Leithiser, Martin, Tucker Corbett and fourth-year Michael Lucas. The relay team recorded a time of 3:18.60.
The men finished eighth overall as a team, totaling 30 points.
On the women’s side on day two, they finished overall in tenth place, recording a total of 23.75 points over the course of the two-day competition.
MacLean continued her solid weekend, finishing in a eight-way tie for sixth place in the high jump, recording 1.61 meters. Saluter also continued her strong weekend, finishing in sixth in the 500-meter, recording a time of 1:15.83.
The women’s 4×800-meter relay team consisted of Saulter, third-year Kelsey Maxim, fourth-year Shannon O’Neil and fourth-year Naomi Holzhauer. The team placed seventh in the event with a time of 9:22.59. This was a season best time for the team, and also qualified them for the ECAC’s.
The 4×400-meter women’s relay team placed ninth in their event, which also qualified them for the ECAC’s. The team was made up of Jackson, Macura, first-year Lauren Magnuson and second-year Alexis Dietrich. The team recorded a tie of 3:52.47 in the event.
The men and women’s teams continue competing on Sunday at the NCAA Championship Qualifiers, which also take place at BU.
