May 4, 2008

2008 NEC Men's Outdoor Championship Final Results

2008 NEC Women's Outdoor Championship Final Results

MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (May 4, 2008) - The Sacred Heart men and women's track & field teams each won their first-ever Northeast Conference Outdoor Championships on Sunday afternoon led by outstanding performances from a pair of seniors in Arman Dixon (Beacon, NY) and Marsha Locke (Danbury, CT). The Pioneer men scored 164.50 points to end Monmouth's streak of four-straight titles. The SHU women piled up 144.50 points to beat out the Hawks and deny them their second-straight league championship.

Dixon matched his MVP performance from the indoor season where he guided the Pioneers to their first NEC Indoor title by piling up 43.50 points to lead SHU to their first outdoor championship. Dixon was named the events Most Valuable Performer and Most Outstanding Track Performer. SHU freshman Andrew Houghtalen (West Charlton, NY) earned Most Outstanding Rookie Performer. Locke took home both the Most Valuable Performer and the Most Outstanding Field Performer trophies. Head coach Christian Morrison was named the NEC Coach of the Year.

Coming off an extraordinary NEC Indoor championship meet that resulted in a third MVP award, Dixon started the weekend by winning the long jump and surpassing the NCAA regional standard with a leap of 7.35m (24' 1.50"). Dixon also picked-up points in the triple jump landing 13.85m (45'5.25") for a fourth place finish.

Dixon dominated on the track once again racking up wins in the 200 meters, 400 meters and on the NEC record breaking 4x100 relay team. His time in the 400, 46.26 seconds, met the NCAA Regional qualifying standard. He clocked in at 21.47 to take the 200 race. Dixon also took third in the 100 meters with a time of 10.82 seconds. Dixon and his teammates took the 4x100 with a time of 40.91 seconds, setting a new NEC Championship record.

Despite a dominant showing by Dixon, who was named both the meet MVP and the Most Outstanding Track Performer, the meet turned when Houghtalen scored a huge victory in the 5K. The Hawks held a six-point advantage with two events remaining, but the Pioneers needed only one event to take the lead. Sacred Heart posted a 1-3-6 finish in the 5000-meter run while Monmouth settled for seventh and eighth in the event. The net result was a 16-point gain for Sacred Heart and a 10-point advantage in the team scoring with only the 4x400 relay left on the schedule. Houghtalen claimed gold for the Pioneers', clocking in at 15:24.1, while juniors John Kenworthy (Gloversville, NY) and Luis German (Southampton, NY) took third and sixth, respectively.

Houghtalen also finished third in the 3000 meter steeplechase with a time of 9:29.49. Kenworthy was second in the steeplechase (9:29.49). German picked up a second place finish in the 1,500 meters (3:58.41) and a third place finish in the 800 meters (1:55.33).

In the pole vault, SHU picked up a third and fourth place finish from senior Ian Straughter (Hackensack, NJ) and junior Thomas Hyatt (Hopewell Junction, NY). Straughter cleared the bar at 4.50m (14'9.00") while Hyatt cleared 4.40m (14'5.25"). In the 10,000 meters, junior Brendan Rickert (Danbury, CT) finished fourth with a time of 33:06.26 while senior David Jones (Ballston Lake, NY) took sixth in 33:34.26. Sophomore Jason Soule (South Portland, ME) took third in the 400 meter hurdles with at time of 54:96.

Sophomore Thomas Stripe (Mahwah, NJ) notched a fifth place finish in the discus (44.49m) and an eighth place in the shot put (14.71m). Sophomore Brett Luongo took third in the javelin (58.82m), an IC4A qualifying throw.

For the SHU women, Locke led the way starting by successfully defending her shot put crown from a year ago. She bested last year's winning throw by more than one meter and surpassed the qualifying standard for the NCAA East Region Championships at14.99m (49' 2.25"). On Sunday, the senior won the javelin with an NCAA Regional qualifying toss of 43.84m (143'10"). She added a pair of third place finishes as well in the hammer throw with a toss of 52.45m (172'01") and the discus with a throw of 41.96m (137'8").

Sacred Heart freshman sensation Angelica Johnson (Little Ferry, NJ) won the 100 meters clocking in with a time of 12.30 seconds. She also took fifth in the 200 meters with a time of 25.45 seconds. Senior Melissa Kostan (Salem, MA) was the medal winner in the 400 meter hurdles with an ECAC qualifying time of 1:01.86 seconds. She was second in the 100 meter hurdles at 14.59 seconds. Kostan was also sixth in the long jump with a leap of 5.34m (17'6.25"). Sacred Heart received another repeat performance from sophomore high jumper Brittany Dexter (Ballston Lake, NY). Clearing 1.70m (5' 7") for the second consecutive year here, Dexter produced a seasonal best while meeting the qualifying standard for the ECAC Championships.

In the 800 meters, sophomore Sarah Tencza (Succasunna, NJ) was third crossing the line in 2:16.67 seconds. Also picking up solid finishes were SHU grad student Anne Duffy (Monroe, CT) took third in the 10,000 meters with a time of 38:40.20. Junior Sarana Hyatt (St. Albans, NY) was fourth in the long jump with a leap of 5.42m (17'9.50). Senior Lenahndem Tankeng (Yonkers, NY) was fifth in the hammer throw with an ECAC qualifying toss of 50.23m (164'9") and sixth in the shot with a toss of 13.09m (42'11.50").

Senior Sarah Hickman (Amherst, MA) finished second in the discus with a throw of 42.54m (139'07") to qualify for ECAC's. Sophomore Bonnie Kilis (Marlborough, CT) was third in the javelin with a throw of 41.44m (135'11") to also qualify for ECAC's.