CCSU 4th on Day One at NECs; Hunt Wins 10,000m

The Central Connecticut men's track and field team completed day one at the 2014 NEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships in fourth place out of 10 teams on Saturday in Coraopolis, PA. Senior Craig Hunt opened the day's competition for CCSU earning the gold medal in the 10,000m.

RESULTS

Hunt raced the first event of the day that kicked off at 8:45 Saturday morning, crossing the finish line in 33:10.53, good for 10 team points. CCSU dominated the top five with junior Matt Walker taking the silver in 33:10.81 and freshman Colin Sauter claiming fifth in 33:42.57.

Junior Michael Ficorilli earned five points for CCSU on his own. He threw for a career-best 46.89 meters in the hammer throw, good for sixth place and three points. He added two more with his seventh-place finish in the shot put (14.20m).

The Blue Devils also scored in the 4x800m relay event. The squad of junior Joey Farrington, sophomore Malcolm Connor and freshmen Jamil Ferguson and Thomas Lupoli crossed the finish line fourth in a time of 7:56.35.

Central turned in eight performances that qualify for Sunday's finals. Defending champion Jamal Fruster finished first in the 400m dash prelims with his IC4A qualifying time of 48.35 seconds. The junior also qualified for the finals in the 200m dash with a career-best time of 21.96, good for seventh place overall.

In the 1,500m run prelims, junior Brian Biekert claimed second to advance to the finals. He crossed the line in 4:13.50, first in his heat, and was followed on the leader boards by classmate Patrick Hubbell. Hubbell finished seventh in 4:13.59 and will also compete for CCSU Sunday.

Junior Jordan Watkins finished third overall, second in his heat, in the 110m hurdle prelims. He crossed the line in 14.88 seconds to qualify for Sunday's competition.

Watkins also tallied a personal-best record in the 400m hurdles. He finished sixth in the prelims with his time of 55.78, followed by junior Ryan Budd who qualified with an eighth-place finish in 56.13 seconds.

CCSU will also be represented in tomorrow's 800m finals by Connor. The second-year Blue Devil crossed the finish line in 1:54.60 with his sixth-place finish, fourth in his heat.

After day one, Sacred Heart leads with 54 points followed by Wagner (36), Robert Morris (34), CCSU (32) and Saint Francis U (29).

The 2014 NEC Championships will resume tomorrow, Sunday, May 4. The men's events are scheduled to begin with the high jump at 9 a.m. Fans can follow all of the action live via live stats, follow @NECTrack on Twitter and find all NEC Championship information on the NEC Championship Central page.