Feb. 23, 2008

BOSTON - The Boston University women's track team won its third consecutive America East Championship Saturday at the Track and Tennis Center. The men's side placed fifth while suffering through a slew of injuries. Senior Marisa Ryan was named the Track Athlete of the Meet with first place finishes in the mile and 3000m, while sophomore Whitney Ford was the highest scorer of the meet with first place finishes in the 55m dash and long jump, as well as second in the 200m and triple jump - all personal records. For the men's team, junior Jan Bicanic won the shot put with his best throw of the season. The team's coaches also won Staff of the Year for the third consecutive season.

The women's team earned 206.83 points while taking first in eight events. New Hampshire came in second with 141.33 points, followed by Albany (114.50), UMBC (72), Stony Brook (72), Maine (54), Binghamton (51), Vermont (45.33 and Hartford (22).

Ford won the 55m dash with a 7.12 time, followed closely by senior Tahari James in second with a 7.21 mark and senior Erin Catarius in eighth (7.35), freshman Alexandra Jackson in ninth (7.40), freshman Laura Martin in 12th (7.43), sophomore Alyssa Fanucci in 13th (7.47) and junior Alexis Beaudet in 16th (7.49). Ford's 24.76 time in the 200m earned her second place, followed by James (24.79, 3), Martin (25.35, 5), Jackson (26.40, 14), and freshman Amanda Howard (26.67, 17). Both Ford's and James's times were personal records. Senior Anne Wighton (2:53.74) and Reed (2:56.72) took second and fifth, respectively, in the 1000m, while Ryan (9:43.29) finished first in the 3000m and senior Andrea Walkonen (9:47.35) took third. Sophomore Casey Jordan took ninth in the 400m with a 58.63 time, followed by freshman Amanda Howard (1:00.10). Junior Rebecca Marshburn earned a third-place finish in the 500m (1:16.39) and sophomore Andrea Tingue (1:22.53) crossed with the 17th best time, while junior Katie Weider (2:13.47) and senior Kat Warden (2:14.59) took second and third, respectively, in the 800m. Ryan's 4:45.65 time in the mile clinched first, followed by freshman Emma Reed in fifth (4:58.41). Walkonen also won the 5000m run with a 16:39.77 time.

The Terriers' 4x800 women's team finished first place with a 9:07.48 mark, while the distance medley placed second with an 11:54.59 time. Marshburn (8:46) placed sixth in the 55m hurdles, followed by Jordan (8.80) in tenth, while the 4x400m team took fourth with a 3:54.36 time.

Ford (5.97m, 1), Beaudet (5.59m, 2), senior Edwina Clark (5.43m, 4) and Fanucci (5.30m, 8) gained 24 points for the Terriers in the long jump, and James (12.98m) and Ford (12.77m) took first and second, respectively, in the triple jump, followed by Jackson (10.58m, 13). James's jump was a meet record and both James's and Ford's marks were provisional qualifiers for the NCAA championship. Freshman Karly Neveu won the high jump, while senior Megan LaBella tied for eighth. Sophomore Mimi Maritz (J3.45m, 3) and Fiona Romeri (3.15m, T-5) placed in the pole vault, freshman Jen Fleser (12.04m) ranking 21st in the weight throw. LaBella finished third in the pentathlon with 3178 points, while finishing first in the pentathlon shot put with a 10.77m throw.

The men's team earned 88 points, finishing behind Albany repeat-champion Albany (186), Binghamton (142), New Hampshire (130.50) and UMBC (93.50), while ranking ahead of Stony Brook (59), Vermont (36), Maine (28) and Hartford (16).

Bicanic's 16.37m shot put throw was his best throw of the season, also qualifying him for the NCAA championship. Junior Dan Martin ranked fourth behind Bicanic with a 15.06m throw, followed by freshman Dan Withrow (14.81m, 6). Senior Greg Daggett (4528) and sophomore Logan Moore (4337) placed fourth and fifth, respectively, in the heptathlon, with Moore taking first in the heptathlon shot put (13.67m). Sophomore Mac-Alen Gerard took second in the triple jump with a 14.05m jump in only his second competition of the season, after missing significant time with an injury. Sophomore Kodjo Wilder's 6.48m jump was the tenth best in the long jump, while junior Jun Dambara took sixth in the high jump with a J1.88m mark.

The Terriers' 4x800m team's 7:50.56 time was the second best, while squads also took fifth in the distance medley (10:16.21) and seventh in the 4x400m (3:22.17). Junior Jason Nardella was the only BU athlete in the 55m hurdles, placing tenth with a 8.14 mark.

Wilder's 6.84 time in the 55m dash earned him 11th place, followed by junior David Barth in 14th with a 6.91 mark. Freshman Joel Senick's 22.27 time in the 200m was his best of the season, ranking him eighth in the day's field, with senior Chadd Steinhauser (22.63, 16), sophomore Max Esposito (23.79, 24) and Barth (23.82, 25) following. Senick also ran a 28.35 400m for second place, with sophomore Adam Churey (51.96) coming in 19th and freshman Tyler Ellis (52.12) placing 20th. Steinhauser (1:05.19) placed third in the 500m, followed freshman Mike Zimmerman (1:07.05, 11), senior Keith Buchanan (1:07.29, 13), sophomore Mark Mazzochette (1:07.50, 14) and junior Joe Pike (1:09.40, 21). Senior Pat Hoye's 4:11.87 mile was second best, while senior Dan Sieczkiewicz took eighth with a 4:21.29 time. Freshmen Sean Gallagher (2:04.04) and Jason English (2:06.27) placed 12th and 13th, respectively, in the 800m, while freshman James Weider took fifth in the 1000m with a 2:35.52 time. Sophomore Eric Ashe (8:18.84, 2) and junior Tom McLean (8:48.88, 14) both placed in the 3000m.

Next up, the Terriers face competition at the New England Championship on Feb. 29 and March 1, also to be held at the Track and Tennis Center.