Men's Track and Field Finishes Runner-Up at NEC Indoor Championships
The CCSU men's indoor track and field team totaled 115 points and finished runner-up to LIU Brooklyn at the NEC Indoor Championships on Saturday.
The Central Connecticut men's indoor track and field team finished runner-up to LIU Brooklyn at the 2016 Northeast Conference Indoor Championships completed on Saturday at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island, NY. A pair of Blue Devils were crowned NEC Champions in their respective events as the Blue Devils totaled 115 points for the second place finish.
LIU Brooklyn captured its third straight NEC Indoor Championship with 158 points to beat out the Blue Devils. Central was runner-up with 115 points and Sacred Heart finished third with 96 points. Fairleigh Dickinson (81.5) was fourth followed by Saint Francis U (78.5), Mount St. Mary's (64.5), Wagner (39.5), Bryant (25) and St. Francis Brooklyn (5) to round out the nine team field.
Junior Joseph Gioielli and sophomore Sam Borecki both claimed first place finishes at the championship meet for the Blue Devils. Gioielli garnered the gold in the men's mile besting the field by clocking in a time of 4:11.31, while Borecki picked up a gold medal in the pole vault after clearing 4.80 meters. The results earned CCSU a combined 20 points towards the team score.
Sophomore Austin Trainor also competed in the men's mile final with Gioielli and registered a fifth place finish. Trainor crossed the finish line at the 4:13.89 mark for the finish and five points for CCSU.
Three Blue Devils scored for CCSU in the 60 meter hurdles final. Freshman Edwin Alston registered eight points for Central after he finished second in the event with a CCSU school-record breaking time of 8.11. He was joined in the event by classmate Tyrik Henry and sophomore Tyler Latham. Henry ran a personal-best time of 8.16 to finish fourth and Latham matched his personal best time running 8.33 for a seventh place finish.
A trio of runners also scored for Central in the 5,000 meter run, totaling 16 CCSU points in the event. Senior Matt Walker led the way with a runner-up finish, turning in a time of 14:50.16 to pick up eight points. Freshman Alex Norstrom registered a fourth place with a time of 14:56.82 for five points and junior Tyler Raymond was slotted sixth with a time of 15:04.77 to earn three points.
CCSU's distance medley relay team of junior Will Ribeiro, freshman Adonys Langual, Gioielli and Trainor grabbed a spot on the podium as they finished second in the event with a combined time of 10:21.13. The result was good for eight points.
In the 60 meter dash final, Central's Kendall Walker grabbed a pair of points with a seventh place finish. The junior sprinted to a time of 7.04 to record the result. Walker also competed in the 200 meter dash final on Saturday and turned in a sixth place finish with a new personal-best time of 22.15, good for three Blue Devil points.
Junior Zach Andrews placed sixth in the 400 meter finals heat for the Blue Devils. He clocked in a time of 49.92 for the finish en route to picking up three points towards the team score.
Gioielli also competed in the 800 meter run final on Championship Saturday. The junior placed eighth to snag a point for the Blue Devils with a finishing time of 1:58.28.
In the triple jump, senior's Dashawn Putman and Kwency Crittenden both finished in the top-eight scoring positions. Putman lept to 13.60 meters for a fifth place finish and Crittenden extended to the 13.24 meter mark to claim an eighth place result.
The Blue Devils 4x400 relay team placed fourth clocking in a season-best time of 3:21.90, good for five points at the meet. The team was comprised of freshman Richard Grudzwick, Andrews, Walker and Latham.
The CCSU men's indoor track and field team will return to action next as select Blue Devils who qualified will compete at the New England Championships on Feb. 26-27. The meet will be held at the BU Track and Tennis Center in Boston, MA.