Dempsey sets school record on Saturday
DEMPSEY'S PROGRAM-RECORD HIGHLIGHTS SATURDAY COMPETITION
SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Freshman Nicole Dempsey (Norwell, Mass.) broke a seven-year old school record in the long jump and junior Eimear Black (Glengormley, Ireland) won the 3000 as the Bryant University track and field team competed at the Coaches Tribute Invitational at URI on Saturday (Feb. 2).
Competing in just her second collegiate meet, Dempsey broke the program record in the long jump with a jump of 17' 2" (5.23m). Her jump was an inch longer than Natasha Stevenson's previous record that was set in 2006. Running in her first track meet of the season, Black won the 3000 with a time of 10:09.68, 27 seconds faster than the next runner.
Bryant also received strong finishes from Kristen Hayes (Menands, N.Y.), Martha Reynolds (London, England), Kara Walsh (Waltham, Mass.) and Annmarie Tuxbury (New Hartford, Conn.) on the women's side. Hayes finished 11th in the 400 with a time of 1:02.12, Reynolds was 10th in the 800 (2:22.41), Walsh was 10th in the 1000 (3:06.44) and Tuxbury finished fourth in the mile (5:08.82).
On the men's side, the Black and Gold earned a host of top finishes. Kevin Louine (Mattapan, Mass.) and Nicholas Douglas (Shelton, Conn.) shined in the 200, finishing seventh (23.07) and ninth (23.20), respectively. Douglas also earned an 11th-place finish in the 400 (51.79). Blake Fenwick (Thomaston, Conn.) continued his strong year with an 11th-place finish in the mile (4:26.86) and the Bulldogs received a pair of top-10 finishes in the jumps. John Somers (Wallingford, Conn.) finished sixth in the pole vault (3.90m) and Adam Malone (Speonk, N.Y.) finished sixth in the long jump (6.26m).
The Bulldogs will now gear up for the Northeast Conference championships this weekend in Landover, Md. The championship meet begins on Saturday, Feb. 9 and finishes on Sunday, Feb. 10.