BRYANT TRACK SETS FOUR SCHOOL RECORDS AT NEC CHAMPIONSHIPS SATURDAY
May 1, 2010
BRYANT TRACK & FIELD OPENS STRONG AT NEC
CHAMPIONSHIPS
Bulldogs Set Four School Records
|
EMMITSBURGH, Md. – The Bryant University men’s and women’s track & field teams enjoyed a tremendous opening day at the 2010 Northeast Conference Track & Field Championships at Mount St. Mary’s. The Bulldogs set four new school records and sent three individuals into Sunday’s finals in two event.
Freshman standout Deirdre Doyle (Carlow, Ireland) advanced to the finals of the 1500 meters with the fastest time of the prelims at 4 minutes, 44.23 seconds. Doyle has a season-best time of 4:38.99 set earlier this season at the Bryant Invitational. The finals will take place on Sunday at 12:45 pm.
The women’s 4x800 meter relay ran very well in the very warm conditions at Morgan Track as the team of Megan Robertson (Sewell, NJ), Molly Tower (Harwinton, Conn.), Amanda Garber (Brewster, NY), and Doyle set a new school record placing seventh in a time of 9:48.88 and shattering the old mark of 10:40 set 10 years ago.
On the men’s side, the Bulldogs had several top performers earning spots in Sunday’s finals as well as three school records set. Like the women, the men’s 4x800 meter relay team broke an eight-year-old record as the team of Scott Twardowski (Rehoboth, Mass.), David Hurley (Ashaway, R.I.), Michael DiBella (Upper Saddle River, N.J.) and Ryan Busby (Derry, N.H.) finished ninth overall in a school record time of 8:15.48, just under the previous record of 8:15.84.
Also setting new school marks was junior Andrew Fitzgerald (New Hartford, Conn.) who finished first in his heat and also earned a spot in Sunday’s finals of the men’s 400 meter hurdles with a new record time of 54.82, just beating his old mark of 54.88.
Fellow hurdler Anthony Monteiro (Leominster, Mass.) has had a very good outdoor season this season in the 110 meter hurdles. On Saturday, the sophomore was rewarded with a fifth-place finish in his heat in a record time of 15.59 seconds. He was the previous holder of the school record set last spring in 15.66.
Other highlights on the first day was the strong running of sophomore of Busby and Twardowski in the prelims of the 1500m. Both earned a spot in Sunday’s finals with Busby clocking in at 4:00.76 and Twardowski next at 4:01.23.
Also earning spots in the finals were sprinting stars Thomas O’Connor (Westwood, Mass.) and Alex Engel (Spencer, Mass.) in the 400 meters. O’Connor placed first in his heat in a time of 49.10 to earn a spot in the finals while Engel will join his teammate Sunday thanks to a solid time of 48.52 in the fifth and final heat of the day.
The Bryant women currently stand 12th with two points after just two events scored. The Bulldog men have not scored yet after six events with a majority of the events to take place Sunday.