Track and Field Wins Nine Medals and Finishes Fourth NEC Meet
Central totaled 98 points at the 2019 NEC Championship.
The Central Connecticut men's indoor track and field team earned nine medals and totaled 98 points to finish fourth at the 2019 Northeast Conference Indoor Track and Field Championship on Saturday, Feb. 16 in Staten Island, NY. LIU Brooklyn was crowned the champions totaling 127 points. Junior standout Marquis Ward was named the 2019 Most Outstanding Player for jumps.
Ward earned three medals. He was named the 2019 Northeast Conference High Jump Champion jumping 2.01 meters. He also earned two bronze medals, one in the long jump with a leap of 6.91 meters and the other in the triple jump. He recorded a personal best 14.72 meters in the event to earn the bronze.
Classmate Krvorni Welsh was named the long jump champion earning the gold medal after a personal best 7.11 meter jump. He was the runner-up to Ward in the high jump recording a leap of 1.98 meters, another personal best for Welsh. Welsh also had a personal best in the triple jump at 14.32 meters finishing in sixth place.
Junior Roberto Piotto brought home two medals of his own. He was named the 5,0000-meter run champion clocking in at 14:5.99 and earned a bronze medal in the 3,000-meter dash finishing the event in 8:34.67.
Senior Akiel Smith earned the bronze medal in the 200-meter dash after clocking in at 21.84 seconds.
Junior Richard Grudzwick won the bronze medal in the 800-meter after crossing the finish line in 1:56.26. Grudzwick also set a personal best time of 4:17.65 in the one-mile finishing in sixth place.
In the 60-meter hurdles junior Quincy Sanchez recorded a personal best time of 8.20 seconds to finish in fourth place.
The men's DMR team consisting of Andrew Findley, Darius Wise, Grudzwick, and Julio Arredondo recorded the best time of the season at 10:27.74.
In the pole vault, Jeremy Hopwood finished seventh at 4.40 meters. Gordon Perett and Craig Starkey both leaped 3.80 meters, a collegiate best for Starkey.
Jack St. Clair and Jareed Creech competed in the long jump recording jumps of 6.85 and 6.42 meters respectively. Creech also competed in the triple jump finishing in 11th at 13.58 meters. Tyrik Henry and Trevor Glymph threw 13.35 and 12.90 meters.
Jason Walton came in eighth in the 500-meter recording a time of 1:07.87. The 4x400 relay team including St. Clair, Miles Fye-Moore, Quasim Danazumi, and Garret Dandridge finished sixth with a time of 3:22.98.
Nana Kissi threw 12.59 meters in the weighted throw. McCarthy and Ed Radzion also competed throwing 11.50 and 10.78 meters respectively.
In shot put, Kissi finished 14th with a throw of 13.81 meters, and J'Von Brown threw 13.36 meters. Radzion recored a throw of 12.19 meters and McCarthy 11.67 meters.
CCSU men's track and field competes next on Sunday, Feb. 24 at the BU Last Chance Meet in Boston, MA.