Men's Track Takes Fifth at NEICAAAs
Radden topped the 60m and 200m events while Biekert and Gioielli broke CCSU records.
The Central Connecticut men's track and field team wrapped up the New England Indoor Track and Field Championships in fifth place out of 31 teams with some impressive stats on Saturday as senior Aaron Radden took gold in both the 60 meter and 200 meter events.
Radden, who owns the CCSU record in the 55m, 60m and 200m events swept the preliminaries and finals in both of his events on the day. Radden topped the 60 meter dash with a time of 6.82 seconds, setting a new season best and finishing just one hundredth of a second shy of his collegiate personal best. Radden also claimed gold in the 200 meter dash, notching another season-best time of 21.01 and also beating last year's NEICAAA time by one hundredth of a second.
This win is the fourth consecutive first place at the New England Championships in the 200 meter dash for Radden. In 2010, Radden topped the field with a time of 21.03. In 2011 he ran a 21.17 and last season, he earned gold with a time of 21:02.
Sophomore Brian Biekert ran a 4:09.60 in the one mile event for eighth place of 32, besting the previous school record of 4:11.50 set in 1987 by Jim Sanders. Freshman Joseph Gioielli topped the all-time Blue Devil record and the rest of the field in the 1,000 meter run with his time of 2:23.39. His time beats the 2:25.52 mark set in 2011 by Mohamed Hrezi.
In the 400 meter dash, sophomore Jamal Fruster took fifth with a time of 48.95, setting a new personal indoor record. Fruster was followed by senior Nick Lindblom who placed seventh with a time of 49.72.
The Blue Devils turned in a solid performance in the relay races. The 4x800 team finished in fourth place with a time of 7:38.65. The team was made up of Biekert, Gioielli, senior Mike Waterbury and freshman Malcolm Connor.
The 4x400 meter relay team, consisting of Lindblom, Fruster, senior Dan Hopper and junior Ryan Budd, crossed the finish line in 3:19.16. The time meets the IC4A qualifying mark of 3:19.90.
Other notable performances for the Blue Devils included sophomore Andrew Hill in the 3,000 meter run. Hill crossed the finish line in 8:30.06 in ninth place, just one spot from scoring position. Also, in the 5,000 meter run, senior John Krell earned 10th place of 30 competitors with a time of 14:54.07. Krell was followed by freshman Matt Walker in 13th who crossed the line in 14:58.48.
The University of Connecticut ultimately won the championship meet with a score of 164.50. UCONN was followed by Rhode Island (97.50), Northeastern (74) and Boston University (43). CCSU rounded out the top five with a score of 42.
The Blue Devils will return to Boston University in Boston, MA for their next meet, the IC4A/ECAC Indoor Championships on Friday, March 1 through Sunday, March 3.