Kilian Makes School History, Wins NEC Indoor Long Jump Title
McKenna Kilian became the first ever Blue Devil to win the Northeast Conference long jump title.
Junior McKenna Kilian became the first Blue Devil in school history to be crowned the 2018 Northeast Conference Long Jump Champion on day one of the league's title meet on Friday, February 16 to lead the Central Connecticut women's indoor track and field team. Kilian claimed the gold medal on her first jump of the event while recorded a new personal record long jump distance of 5.62 meters (18' 5.25"). Kilian crushed her old collegiate best of 5.41 meters (17' 9") set at the New England Championships two weekends ago.
Of the four events scored CCSU stands in fourth place with 17 points after day one. Saint Francis U. sits atop the NEC leaderboard with 39 points.
Junior Dawn Hubbell placed fourth in the women's 3,000 meter run final after running a new personal record time of 10.09.99, shaving off 18.56 seconds from her old collegiate best time of 10:27.43 set in February of 2017. Junior Madeline Mondo placed seventh overall, clocked in a time of 10:18.50.
Sophomore Hailey Rospierski qualified with ease in the 60 meter hurdles for CCSU with a scorching personal best time to win her heat with a time of 8.98 seconds. Rospierski blew away her previous fastest time of 9.05 seconds, set two weeks ago at the New England Championships, with the second best 60m hurdle preliminary time of the day to LIU Brooklyn's Shantae McDonald (8.70s).
Freshman Megan Brawner finished second in her mile heat to advance to Friday's finals with a collegiate best time of 5:15.92, topping her old fastest mile of 5:17.42 set on January 5 at the Wagner Invite.
Qualifying in the 400 meter dash was junior Sierra Nesmith who took second in the heat with a time of 57.93 seconds.
Two rookies, Angelia Rafter and Kailyn Accetura ran in the 800 meter run for Central. Rafter finished at 2:24.80 in 11th place in the prelims and Accetura set a new personal best time of 2:46.38.
Senior Alleah Red set a new personal best time in the 60 meter dash to lead two other Blue Devils. Red ran a time of 8.21 seconds, besting her old top mark of 8.31 seconds. Sophomore Erica Snape ran a time of 8.23 seconds and freshman Jaekwana Newton finished at 8.65 seconds. All three athletes were unable to qualify for the finals on Saturday.
Behind Brawner in the mile was junior Morgan Ricci who finished with a preliminary time of 5:47.21. In the 200 meter dash Snape finished in 26.88 seconds, Red ran a time of 27.26, and Newton sprinted in a 28.61 for Central.
Senior Olivia Mondo also competed in the 3K for the Blue Devils and finished with a personal best time of 11:00.93. In the shot put, sophomore Valeria Hernandez paced CCSU with a 15th place finish and a mark of 10.76 meters. Junior Abrah Toomey threw for 10.21 meters, rookie Celine Delice threw 8.22 meters and freshman Abigail McNab recorded a personal record throw of 7.21 meters.
Day two of the NEC Championships will start tomorrow at 10:10 a.m. with the women's 60 meter hurdle finals and will conclude at 2:15 p.m. with the closing awards ceremony. All track events will be streamed live on NEC Front Row and field event highlights will be posted on NEC Front Row On-Demand.
