TRACK & FIELD TEAMS CHALLENGED AT SILFEN INVITATIONAL
April 23, 2011
NEW LONDON, Conn. - The rain and the wind were the toughest opponents the Emmanuel College Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field teams faced on April 23rd at the Connecticut College Silfen Invitational. Several athletes were scratched or were unable to finish their races due to problems they encountered as a result of the harsh conditions. On the day, three school records were posted, and in the overall standings, the women finished 8th out of 18 schools with the men capturing 14th out of 20 competing teams.
"The goal was to survive the lousy, rainy, cold and windy day without any injuries. Unfortunately that didn't happen," said Head Coach Tony DaRocha after the meet. Luckily, the injuries to not appear to threaten the athletes' seasons. However, Ben Cleveland (Auburn, Me.), Abdi Ibrahim (East Boston, Mass.) and Julie Young (Derry, N.H.), all top runners for the Saints, were forced to exit their respective races early. "Both teams could have placed higher in the team standings, but with the championship season coming up it wasn't worth the risk of losing athletes entirely for the rest of the season," commented DaRocha.
Those athletes that pushed their teams up in the standings still managed to have impressive days. Men's Team Captain Stephen Armstrong (Revere, Mass.) competed in the 10k, and was able to fight his way to a time of 33:42.64, over 40 seconds better than last week's finish. In the 800 meters, freshman Jeremy Thompson (Framingham, Mass.) improved his personal best to 2:16.58. Andrew Heath (Stamford, Conn.) finished in 51.15 in the 400 meters, securing a 4th place spot for himself, and in the 400 meter hurdles, freshman Nathan Bruno (Lenox, Mass.) broke his own school record and captured 2nd place with a 56.09 finish.
Katasi Kulubya (Anaheim, Calif.) had a great day, placing 2nd in the 4x100 meter relay, 2nd in the 400 meters and her worst finish on the day was a 4th place finish in the 200 meters. Teammate Lauren Atkins (Saugus, Mass.) also contributed to the 4x100 team, earned 2nd place in the 100 meter dash, and 4th in the long jump. Irene Limlengco (Brookline, Mass.) placed 5th in the 200 meters, inching her way closer to qualifying and was another member of the women's relay team. The leadoff to the 4x100 was Nathalie Victoria (Brockton, Mass.), who would help her team to that 2nd place, 52.59 finish, earned a seventh place spot in the 100 meters as well as 8th place in the high jump.
In the field, junior thrower Kathleen King (South Easton, Mass.) set the tone for the Saints throwing corps. She broke the school record in the hammer, with a throw of 93'8", and placed 8th in the discus as well.
"Hopefully they all will recover quickly and we can get better weather next Sunday at Brown University," said DaRocha. The Saints will travel to Providence, Rhode Island on May 1st to compete in the Brown Invitational at 9 a.m. For complete results of the Silfen Invitational, please go to:
http://coolrunning.com/results/11/ct/Apr23_Silfen_set2.shtml