FIVE SAINTS EARN ALL-ECAC TRACK & FIELD HONORS
May 18, 2012
TROY, N.Y. - Seven athletes represented Emmanuel College at the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Track & Field Championships hosted by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Thursday and Friday. The Saints sent two men's relay teams and two athletes who qualified in individual events to compete in the Championships at RPI. Three new program-records were set and five Emmanuel athletes garnered All-ECAC honors for their top-eight finishes in the Championships.
Kicking off the ECACs for Emmanuel on Thursday afternoon was the Saints 4x400 meter relay team. The squad consisting of Nathan Bruno (Lenox, Mass.), Ryan Thomas (Wakefield, R.I.), Ben Perdue (West Springfield, Mass.) and Adam Julien (New Orleans, La.) placed 12th overall out of the 23 competing teams. Emmanuel's combined time was 3:20.43. This was the lone event for the Saints on the opening day of competition.
Day two of the Championships featured the Saints setting new Emmanuel program-records in all three of their events. Freshman sensation Adam Julien competed in his second event of the ECACs, running the men's 400 meter dash. Julien cruised to a 1st place finish in his heat and placed 2nd overall out of the 22 racers. He cut half a second off his personal best to finish in 48:31. The winner of the event, Richard Scott of Alfred University, finished in 47.99. Julien's All-ECAC performance now ranks him 25th nationally in the 400m.
Bruno then ran his best ever in the 400 meter hurdles, cutting almost a second off his time and finishing 1st in his heat and 4th overall out of the field of 22 competitors. Bruno's time of 53.57 moved him into 19th in the nation in the 400mH. Besting Bruno in the event were just three other runners spread over three different heats and they included athletes representing Rhode Island College, Williams College and Rutgers-Newark, respectively.
Ranking in the top-twenty nationally, the stage is now set for Bruno to compete next week at the NCAA Division III Championships. Barring any late qualifiers, Bruno will compete next weekend at Burns Stadium in Claremont, California. The NCAA Championships will begin on Thursday and run through Saturday. The final field for the national championships will be announced by Sunday, May 20 at 9 a.m. Watch for the fields to be announced HERE.
The Saints wrapped up day two competition with another program-record in the men's 4x800m relay. Emmanuel finished 2nd in their heat and placed 7th overall with a time of 7:51.62. The team of Abdi Ibrahim (East Boston, Mass.), Chris Baker (Holden, Mass.), Patrick Callan (Pawling, N.Y.) and Bruno knocked almost 7 seconds off their program record time. All four athletes earned All-ECAC honors for their top-eight finish in the relay.
As a team, the Saints placed 21st out of the 59 competing teams, totaling 14 points over the two-day Championships. For the complete results from the men's ECAC Track & Field Championships click HERE.