Women's Indoor T&F Crowned Inaugural GNAC Champions; Men Finish Third

BOSTON, Mass. - The Emmanuel College Women’s Indoor Track & Field team captured the inaugural Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Indoor Track & Field Championship Sunday afternoon on the campus of Boston University. The Men’s squad performed well in their first GNAC Championship appearance, placing third overall in the team field.

Women's Indoor T&F Crowned Inaugural GNAC Champions; Men Finish Third
Results Results
February 16, 2020

THE BASICS 

Location: Boston, Mass.
Meet Host: Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) 
Date: Sunday February 16, 2020

THE LEAD: The Emmanuel College Women's Indoor Track & Field team captured the inaugural Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Indoor Track & Field Championship Sunday afternoon on the campus of Boston University. The Men's squad performed well in their first GNAC Championship appearance, placing third overall in the team field.

WOMEN'S HIGHLIGHTS

  • The Saints captured six individual events and two relay events during the GNAC Championship to earn a team score of 174 on the afternoon, finishing 60 points ahead of Suffolk University who finished in second place with 114 points.
  • Junior Amanda Jordan (Stoneham, Mass.) posted three first place finishes, earning the title in the high jump with a leap of 1.56m, the long jump (4.97m) and the triple jump (10.69m).
  • Sophomore Kennedy Davignon (Woodstock, Conn.) earned the win in the 200m event, finishing just ahead of first year teammate Cara Martin (Wrentham, Mass.) for a 1-2 combo with times of 27.25 and 27.41 seconds. Davignon also finished third in the 400m race with a time of 1:02.68.
  • Sophomore Lauren Sterling (Rumford, Maine) earned the GNAC individual championship honors taking home first place in the 60m hurdle with a time of 9.91 seconds, finishing ahead of teammates Jackie Schneider and Jordan who swept the top three spots in the event field.
  • Sophomore Caileigh Blackmer (Warwick, R.I) rounded out the Saints individual champions, placing first overall in the weight throw with a toss of 12.32m.
  • In the relay events, Davignon teamed up with sophomore Haley Boisvert (Merrimack, N.H.), Jordan, and Schneider to capture the win in the 4x400m relay with a time of 4:17.66
  • In the Distance Medley Relay, sophomore Nicole Ruggiero (Peabody, Mass.), first year Victoria Krzysztopik (Orange, Conn.), sophomore Deanna Ruggiero (Peabody, Mass.), and first year Molly Winship (Boxford, Mass.) teamed up for the victory with a time of 13:44.96, just two seconds off the EC school record.
  • Sophomore Hannah Fitzpatrick (Revere, Mass.) ran well on the day, placing third in both the 800m and 1mile run.
  • The championship win is the first of the academic calendar year for any Emmanuel College athletic program.

Women's Team Results
1. Emmanuel - 174
2. Suffolk - 114
3. Saint Joseph's (ME) - 61
4. Regis - 47
5. Colby-Sawyer - 46

MEN'S HIGHLIGHTS

  • After being tabbed to finish fourth in the GNAC Championship Coaches' Poll, the Saints exceeded expectations with a third place finish with 80 total points, finishing behind Suffolk University (119pts) and St. Joseph's College (ME) (116pts) in a tight men's field.
  • EC saw two individual champions on the day with the first coming from freshman Griffin Bean (Cape Neddick, Maine) in the pole vault with a clearance of 3.55m. Bean also finished third in the long jump with a leap of 6.12m.  
  • The other win came from junior Kyle Hajj (Methuen, Mass.) in the 800m race with a time of 2:03.39 in a tight finish that saw the top three racers separated by .31 tenths of a second. He also placed fifth in the mile run coming in at 4:40.35.
  • Sophomore Luke Elson (Ashaway, R.I.) ran well, finishing second in the 400m race at 51.18 seconds, sixth in the 60m dash (7.45 seconds) and eighth in the 200m with a w time of 23.58 seconds.
  • First year Alonzo Fluellen Jr. Phenix City, Ala. Earned points in both the shot put and weight throw, placing third in the shot put with a toss of 12.61m and sixth in the weight throw at 11.61m.
  • In the relays, the combo of Hunter Noyes (White River Junction. Vt.), Hajj, Joseph Reed (Rehoboth, Mass.) and Elson finished second in the 4x400m race while Marco Leo (Newton, Mass.), Bean, Nick Eline (Southampton, Mass.) and Trevor Hajj (Methuen, Mass.) placed third in the distance medley.

Men's Team Results
1. Suffolk - 119
2. Saint Joseph's (ME) - 116
3. Emmanuel - 80
4. Regis - 61
5. Lasell - 48
6. Colby-Sawyer - 40

UP NEXT

  • Several Saints will take to the track on Friday, February 28th for the NCAA Division III New England Championships. The women will be at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vt. while the men will compete in Springfield, Mass. at Springfield College.