Weekend Highlights: USM women 3rd & men 4th at NE D3 Championship
While the high school action waits until next Friday's New England Championships, the college track & field athletes take the spotlight this weekend.
D3 Women Results
On Friday University of Southern Maine senior Peyton Dostie won the New England Division Three pentathlon championship for the second consecutive season breaking the her own USM school record mark with a personal best total of 3,444. The mark moves the former Bonny Eagle standout to 5th ranked in D3 as of Friday evening.
Dostie opened her meet with a personal best 8.92 for the 60m hurdles, the mark lowered her own USM school record which was 8.99. The hurdle time is the 11th fastest in the country this winter. The time was good for 927 points.
Next up was the high jump where Peyton cleared 4-11 1/2 which was worth 632 points. Dostie managed to score 407 points in the shot put with a 26-7 3/4 heave.
In the long jump Dostie popped off a strong 17-6 1/4 leap that was the best of all the competitors and worth 654 more points. In the final event, the 800m she dominated the rest of field clocking a strong 2:19.94 effort worth 824, the time was over 11 seconds faster than the runner-up.
On Saturday Peyton was at it again this time back in the hurdles as she was the top qualifier to the finals in 8.99. In the final she was edged at the line, but still clocked the same time 8.93 as the winner.
Completing her marathon weekend, Dostie added another top 8 finish with a 6th in the long jump with a 17-2 3/4 effort.
In the 55m dash, junior Nicole Kirk of USM lowered her own school record by .10 in the prelims as she finished third in section 2 running 7.89. In the final Kirk would run even faster as she dipped down to 7.87 to place 4th. Kirk wasn't done as she took the 200m title running 25.76 to best the field, this was her first individual New England title.
USM got a 4th place finish from Ashley Belanger in the shot put as the sophomore threw 41-11 1/2, teammate Sabrina Sodders was one spot back in 5th with a best throw of 40-7 3/4.
800m runner Hannah Damron also made the podium as she clocked 2:17.55 to finish 6th.
In the weight throw Bowdoin's Randi London a former Mt Ararat standout finished 3rd with a heave of 49-0 3/4. London also scored in the shot put placing 6th with a 39-11 1/4.
In the 60m hurdles, Allison Hill of Bates and formerly Brunswick placed 4th running 9.08 to break the Bates school record. Former Greely distance standout Jessica Wilson of Bates finished 8th in the 1k clocking 3:05.22
Middlebury's Erzsebet Nagy scored a podium finish in the mile as she clocked 5:02.48 to finish 6th.
D3 Men Results
The Bates men finish as the runner-up while USM finishes 4th at the New England D3 Championship held at Springfield College.
USM was paced by a pair of individual wins from seniors Jamie Ruginski in the long jump and Kevin Desmond in the 800m. Ruginski the 3rd ranked long jumper in the country turned back the rest of New England with his winning effort of 23-2 3/4. In the 800m, Desmond ran a season best 1:54.20 to capture the title, his mark moved him to #15 in the country.
USM also got a win in the 4x400m relay as the #3 ranked team in the country turned in a winning effort 3:24.14. The team didn't run their "A" team but showed the great depth they have to take home the relay title.
Freshman Ron Helderman was the runner-up in the pole vault with a 14-3 1/4 clearance, his teammate senior Ryan Turner tied for 4th with a best of 13-9 1/4.
Junior sprinter Zach Miller broke the school record in the 55m dash as he placed 3rd overall with a 6.99, the time moves him into the top 30 nationally.
Senior Jeremy Collins scored in two events as he placed 4th in the 400m with a 50.46, he went on to run 22.92 to placed 6th in the 200m.
Other scorers for the Huskies were freshman Corey Dyer 7th in the HJ (6-4), freshman Jordhan Levine 5th in the TJ (44-7), senior Sheldon Allen 6th in the 60m hurdles (8.57), junior Dan Webb 7th in the 800m (1:57.55).
The finish by the USM men was a program best.
Tufts Mitchell Black showed his speed as he tore away from the field on the final lap to win the 1000m in 2:28.24 to win by over 3 seconds. Black the former Brunswick standout is the #1 rank 800m in NCAA D3 this season. Black also ran a leg on victorious 4x800 relay team for the Jumbos.
Former Waterville HS runner and current Colby Mule Jeff Hale put in a great effort in the 3k, as he finished as the runner-up clocking 8:26.48 to just miss the win by .36 seconds.
Junior Reid Pryzant of Williams and formerly Falmouth HS finished 3rd in the Heptathlon scoring 4449 which is just off his best effort of the year. Pryzant's best finish in an event came in the pole vault as he cleared 14-1 1/4 and the hurdles were he was also second clocking 8.72.
Bates College got a pair of win from senior Sean Enos in the throws. Enos lead a 1-2 finish for the Bobcats in the shot put, as he heaved it out to 56-8 1/2 while former Waterville HS star Nick Margitza was the runner-up throwing 53-4 1/4
In the weight Enos moved into a tie in the national rankings as he threw a Bates school record 65-2 3/4. The mark also broke the New England meet record as well as the NESCAC record. His winning margin was over 5ft. The throw also moves Enos into the top 10 all-time marks in D3, his effort was the 9th best in history.
The Bobcats also got a win from senior Eric Waiman in Heptathlon as he tallied 4994 to win by 550 points. The mark broke his previous school record mark of 4927, and moves him 4th best in the country.
America East Conference Championship Results
The University of Maine men & women each finished 8th in the America East Conference Championship as the me scored 43.33 while the women tallied 19.33.
The men's team was paced a a trio of third place finishes. In the weight throw Wilson Adams threw 61-9 1/2, while Joe Viola formerly of Scarborough HS ran 49.45 in the 400m, and James Rutter formerly of Cheverus scored 4756 points in the heptathlon.
On the women's side sophomore Grace MacLean finished 3rd in the pentathlon as she tallied 3416 points which moved her to 5th all-time on the Umaine indoor performance list.
NCCCAA National Championship
At the NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association) Indoor Track & Field Championship Carsyn Koch of Cedarville had an outstanding meet. Koch won the 800m national title in a personal best 2:15.78, she entered the meet as the #2 seed at 2:19.09. Koch wasn't done she also ran a leg on the winning Distance Medley Relay that clocked 12:02.55 to win by 19 seconds. She finished 3rd in the high jump with a 5-3 3/4 clearance, and finished her meet out with a leg on the 3rd place 4x400m relay that ran 4:00.24.