Track & Field heads to Staten Island for NEC Championships

NEC CHAMPIONSHIP HEADQUARTERS: MEN | WOMEN

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University track and field team competes in the 2016 Northeast Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships this Friday and Saturday, Feb. 19-20, at the Ocean Breeze Track Facility on Staten Island, N.Y.

Men

The Bulldogs men head into the championship meet with a great deal of momentum and the expectation to score a good deal of points. Leading the way will be seniors Russell Stevens (Colchester, Conn.) and Adam Malone (Speonk, N.Y.) and sophomore Milan Duka (Belgrade, Serbia). All three have the chance to score in multiple events over the course of the weekend.

Stevens enters the meet seeded sixth in the 3000, eighth in the 5000 and 16th in the mile, while Duka is fifth in the mile and eighth in the 800. Malone is enjoying his best season as a Bulldog and has the chance to score high in the both the long jump and the triple jump. He is seeded second in the triple jump and eighth in the long jump. Duka earned a bronze medal in the mile last season while Malone just missed out on a medal, finishing fourth in the triple jump.

Several other Bulldogs enter the weekend with a chance to score points, including Richard Landry (Holyoke, Mass.), Deion Raper (Brockton, Mass.), Nolan Ryan (Holden, Mass.) and Kehma Johnson (Milford, Mass.). Landry is seeded sixth in the mile, 12th in the 3000 and 18th in the 800. Last season, Landry finished seventh in the 3000. Raper is seeded 11th in the 60m hurdles and is looking to score for the first time indoors. Ryan is seeded eighth in the pole vault, while Johnson has posted the best triple jump of the season in the NEC and is also seeded 13th in the long jump.

Women

Seniors Nicole Dempsey (Norwell, Mass.) and Kristen Hayes (Menands, N.Y.) lead the Black and Gold women into the championships this weekend. Both have enjoyed outstanding seasons so far and have the chance to score in multiple events.

Dempsey, who has set school records in the 60m dash and the long jump this season, is seeded fourth in both heading into the weekend. Hayes, a two-time gold medalist outdoors, will look to earn her first indoor medal on Staten Island. She enters the meet seeded fifth in the 400, ninth in the 200 and 11th in the 500.

Bryant's distance group will also have a chance to do something special this weekend. Newcomer Melissa Lodge (Hopkinton, Mass.), sophomore Elizabeth Willmonton (Rowley, Mass.) and senior Erin Svensen (Medway, Mass.) give the Bulldogs a chance to score over all three distance events. Lodge is seeded third in the 3000 and fourth in the mile, Willmonton is seeded sixth in the 3000 and Svensen is seeded 11th in the 5000.

The Black and Gold will also look to Jonee Harrison (Dorchester, Mass.) and Alexandra Watts (Clinton, Conn.) to produce points this weekend. Harrison is seeded fifth in the weight throw, while Watts is eighth in the pole vault.

The NEC Championships will get underway at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 19 with preliminary heats of the 60m hurdles.