Freshmen Shine as Men's Indoor Track and Field Completes New England Championships

Several select Blue Devils competed for the Central Connecticut men's indoor track and field team on Friday and Saturday at the New England Indoor Track and Field Championships. Three Blue Devils ran exceptionally well in the 60 meter hurdles, including freshman Edwin Alston who placed second overall in the finals heat and tied his CCSU school-record mark of 8.11 to highlight the action. The regional meet was held the BU Track and Tennis Center in Boston, MA.

Central racked up 22 total points despite only having a few competitors over the two days to finish in 11th place out of 36 teams that scored at the New England Championships.

OFFICIAL RESULTS

A trio of Blue Devils were the focal point of the NEICAAA Championships for CCSU in the 60 meter hurdles. Two ran in the finals heat on Saturday led by Alston who claimed second overall matching his CCSU school-record time of 8.11, which he set at the NEC Championships last weekend where he also finished runner-up. He was joined in the finals by fellow classmate Tyrik Henry who placed seventh with a time 8.44. Henry qualified for the finals after sprinting to a time of 8.26 in the semi-finals earlier in the day. Combined the duo earned 10 points for the Blue Devils team score at the regional meet.

Quincy Sanchez was the other member of the CCSU indoor track team to compete in the 60 meter hurdles. Sanchez, also a freshman, took 14th place after crossing the finish line with a time 8.54 on Saturday in the semi-final heat. Sanchez qualified for the semi-final round by clocking in a new personal-best time of 8.32 on Friday in the preliminaries.

Senior Dashawn Putman, the runner-up high jumper at the NEC Championships last weekend, cleared 1.99 meters (6' 6.25") on Saturday at the New England Championships. His clearance tied him for fourth place in the event and awarded the Blue Devils four points towards their team score.

In the pole vault, sophomore Sam Borecki also picked up a fourth place finish and earned five points for the Blue Devils at the NEICAAA's. Borecki, who took gold at the NEC Championship with a clearance of 4.80 meters (15' 9"), cleared 4.85 meters (15'11") on Friday to earn the result at the regional meet.

Freshman Richard Grudzwick turned in an excellent performance in his first time competing at the NEICAAA Championships for the Blue Devils, registering a sixth place in the 500 meter finals on Saturday. The rookie clocked in a time of 1:05.41 in the finals heat for the result after running a new collegiate-best time of 1:05.38 in the preliminary round on Friday. His sixth place finish in the finals earned three points towards his team's score.

CCSU's Kendall Walker logged a 16th place finish with a time of 7.09 in the 60 meter prelims on Friday, which earned him a spot in the semi-final round on Saturday. He followed up his performance bettering his time to 7.06 in semi-finals on Saturday, but remained in 16th place overall in the event.

Junior Joe Gioielli ran the third fastest time of the meet in the 1,000 meter preliminaries on Friday, crossing the finish line in 2:29.11, but choose not to compete in the finals heat on Saturday as he looks to save some speed for Sunday when he competes at the BU Last Chance Meet in the men's mile.

Gioielli will compete on Sunday for Central at the BU Last Chance Meet and select members of the CCSU men's indoor track and field team will also return to action next as they compete in the IC4A Championships next weekend on Saturday and Sunday, Mar. 5-6, also held at the BU Track and Tennis Center in Boston, MA.