Men Finish Third at NEC Indoors
Carig Hunt Wins 5,000 to capture 3k, 5k Sweep, Earns Outstanding Track Performer Award
The Central Connecticut men's track and field team finished third in the 2013 Northeast Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships completed on Sunday. The Blue Devils finished third for the second straight season, and have finished in the top three in each of the last three indoor championships.
COMPLETE RESULTS
NEC INDOOR TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP HEADQUARTERS
The Championships took place at the Prince George's Sports & Learning Complex in Landover, MD. Central tallied 100 points in the two-day meet, finishing behind Monmouth and LIU Brooklyn.
Junior Craig Hunt claimed his second gold of the championships, winning the 5,000 meter run to go along with his gold on Saturday in the 3,000 meter run. Hunt was awarded the Men's Outstanding Track Performer of the Meet Award following the competition. In the 3,000 Hunt posted a time of 8:31.83 and he posted a time of 14:54.75 in the 5,000.
Senior Aaron Radden placed second in both the 60 meter dash and the 200 meter. His time in the 200 meter final was just .001 second off the gold. Radden's time on the 60 was 6.89 seconds and in the 200 he ran a 21.709.
In the 400 meters, three Blue Devils finished among the top-six led by senior Dan Hopper. Hopper finished third with a time of 50.20 seconds. Sophomore Jamal Fruster was just two-tenths of a second behind Hopper and finished in fourth place. Senior Nick Lindblom, in sixth place, also earned points for CCSU with a 51.02 second performance.
The Blue Devils also captured gold in the 400 meter Distance Medley Relay. The team of freshman Joseph Gioielli, sophomore Joey Farrington, freshman Malcolm Connor and sophomore Brian Biekert posted a time of 10:15.75 in the event. The team finished four seconds ahead of the second place finisher.
Three members of the team also scored as individuals. In the 500 meters, Farrington earned his team a point with a 1:06.72 performance. Gioielli also earned bronze in the 800 meters with a time of 1:53.06 and Biekert grabbed second place points for the Blue Devils with his time of 4:19.16 in the one mile run.
In addition to Hunt in first place, CCSU also captured fifth and eighth in the 3,000 meters. Junior Andrew Hill, fifth place with a time of 8:37.66, and freshman Matt Walker, eighth place with a time of 8:41.75, also scored for Central.
In the 5,000 meters, Hunt also led a trio of Blue Devils to points. Junior Colby Delbene finished in fifth place with a time of 15:11.22 and Hill finished sixth with a 15:12.08 performance.
Lindblom in fifth place with a time of 8.43 seconds and sophomore Jordan Watkins in sixth place with a time of 8.49 seconds combined to earn CCSU seven team points in the 60 meter hurdles.
In the 4 X 400 meter relay the CCSU team of Hooper, junior Ryan Budd, Lindblom and Fruster earned a third place finish with a time of 3:23.25.
The Blue Devils were unable to score any team points in the field events. CCSU's best performance on the infield was by sophomore Jamie Tobias who finished ninth in the high jump. Tobias cleared 1.83 meters to finish just outside eighth place. He also competed in the triple-jump.
CCSU's next meet is Feb. 22, at the New England Indoor Championships.
