May 3, 2008

SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT REPEATS AS NORTHEAST-10 TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONS WITH MEN'S AND WOMEN'S WINS SATURDAY

Bulldog senior Nicole Radzik earned Female Athlete of the Year honors for 2008 season.

Women's Results / Men's Results

SMITHFIELD, RI - With a combined 22 wins over 43 events in Saturday's Northeast-10 Conference Track and Field Championships, the Southern Connecticut State University men's and women's track and field teams captured the 2008 title for its second championship in as many years at the Bryant Track Complex.

For the Bulldogs, senior standout Nicole Radzik (Sutton, Mass.) led the women, taking a pair of victories out of Saturday's competition. Bryant's 2008 Female Athlete of the Year started off the day winning the 3000-meter steeplechase in an NCAA-provisionally qualifying time of 11:20.91, beating out her nearest competitor by more than a minute. Radzik, who was named 2008 Northeast-10 Conference Female Athlete of the Year, continued her winning ways with a victory in the 5000 meter, beating her own NE-10 Championship record (set in 2007) and qualifying for the New England Championships with an 18:03.44 run.

Junior Rachel Martinich (Fairfield, Conn.) also came away with a win for Bryant, this one in the women's javelin throw with a toss of 38.10 meters to qualify for the New Englands as well.

Junior Stephanie Montagano (Wakefield, Mass.) took second in the 400-meter dash to qualify for the New Englands with a time of 57.97, while a trio of women finished in the top three in field events: Abigail Petersen (West Simsbury, Conn.) finished second in the pole vault (3.31m) with Mary Sanker (Milford, NJ) right behind her in third (2.71m) and Samantha Genatossio (Norwell, Mass.) finished third in the triple jump (10.52m). Montagano also took fourth in the 200-meter dash (26.20).

Sophomore Alexander Engel (Spencer, Mass.) had the best finish for Bryant on the men's side, taking second in the 400-meter dash with a 48.13, good enough to qualify for the New England Championships. Rookie teammate Michael DiBella (Upper Saddle River, NJ) took fourth in the same event with a 50.48 mark.

Freshman Thomas O'Connor (Westwood, Mass.) came in fourth in the 100-meter dash (11.38) - following that performance with a second-place finish in the 200-meter (21.98) - while the Bulldog men's 4x100 relay qualified for New Englands with a time of 42.76, good for third Saturday afternoon.

From the rest of the pack at Saturday's Championships, Saint Rose's Melissa Bredice started out the day with a win in the women's 10,000 meter with a time of 39:30.33, crushing the 2006 mark by over two minutes to set a new NE-10 Championship record. On the men's side of the same event, Southern Connecticut's Chris Croff took the win with a 32:30.28 run. Both times qualify for the New Englands.

Owls' thrower John Brinley provisionally qualified for NCAA competition with a win in the hammer throw (54.88m), setting a new meet record in the process, as did the Southern Connecticut men's 4x100 relay team with a new meet top time of 41.14.

UMass Lowell's Gillian Mundry also qualified for the New Englands with a 5.43-meter mark in the women's high jump, while teammate Andrew Grange won the 400-meter dash in a meet-record time of 47.52, also provisionally qualifying for the NCAA Championships.

In the men's 5000-meter run, the top five finishers all beat the previous best time in the conference championship, but it was Lowell's Ruben Sanca who claimed the top spot with a New England qualifying time of 14:54.98.

But in the end, it was Southern Connecticut who won the day with its pair of victories.

The Owl women finished with 219.33 points, with UMass Lowell finishing second (157.66), Stonehill coming in third (112) and Bryant finishing fourth (91). Bentley (49), Saint Rose (22), Assumption (11) and Pace (6) rounded out the standings for the women.

Southern Connecticut won the men's side with 229 total points, topping second-place finisher UMass Lowell (144), third-place Stonehill (128) and the fourth-place Bulldogs (55). Saint Rose finished fifth (37), with American International (28), Bentley (19), Pace (7) and Assumption (1) completing the order.

Bryant's Nicole Radzik took home Northeast-10 Women's Athlete of the Year honors, as announced by the league in the post-meet ceremonies, while Southern Connecticut's Kevin Taylor garnered the Men's Athlete of the Year accolades. Kevin Gill of Stonehill earned Freshman of the Year on the men's side while UMass Lowell's Lyra Clark was named the conference's Female Freshman of the Year.

The Southern Connecticut coaching staff swept the 2008 coaches awards, with Chris Covert garnering Women's Coach of the Year and Jack Maloney taking home Men's Coach of the Year.

On the day, 20 athletes provisionally qualified for NCAA Championship competition, while 60 turned in results good enough to move on to the New England Championships, to be held May 8-10 at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, N.H.

The NCAA Division II Championships will take place May 22-24 at Mount San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif., where Cal Poly Pomona will serve as the host institution.