University of Connecticut Athletics
Huskies to Host 2003 Outdoor Track & Field Championships
5/1/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
Providence, RI - The Connecticut men’s team and the Miami women’s team are set to defend their titles at the 2003 BIG EAST Outdoor Track and Field Championships, May 2-4. The event will take place at the George J. Sherman Family-Sports Complex on the University of Connecticut campus in Storrs, Conn. This is the third season the conference has used qualifying standards to set the field for the championships.
Men’s Preview:
Defending champion Connecticut returns five of last year’s BIG EAST champions. Paul Pisano (Toms River, NJ) returns as the javelin champ and won the event at the Hurricane Invitational with a throw of 64.22m. Mark Jellison (Reading, MA) earned top honors in the decathlon at the Sea Ray Relays in Tennessee. Jellison ranks among the league’s top four in the 110m hurdles.
Boston College competed in five meets this spring, coming away with two top-five finishes. At the Southern Connecticut State Invitational, Byron Gartrell won the 1,500m and Brian Mahoney took home top honors in the 3,000m steeplechase.
Miami will be led by sprinters, as seven athletes qualified in the 100m dash. Freshman Terrell Walden leads the pack with a time of 10.74. Senior Dan Boniface will compete in the 3,000m steeplechase for the third consecutive season after posting his season-best 9:22.78 on April 17. At the Sea Relays, Georgetown junior Jesse O’Connell won the 800m run with a league-best time of 1:47.97. Leading the conference in the 400m hurdles is James Graham who earned runner-up honors at the relays. Graham’s time of 50.14 currently ranks seventh in the nation.
Notre Dame sophomore Selim Nurudeen looks to repeat as the 110m hurdles champ. Senior Luke Watson, the Most Outstanding Track Performer at the 2002 conference championship, will look for his third 3,000m steeplechase title, as well as to repeat as the 5,000m champ. The Irish finished third in last year’s meet. Pittsburgh is led this season by Matt Brousse who leads the conference in the pole vault as of April 25 with a height of 4.95m. In the long jump, Shawndel Daniel ranks third with a jump of 7.22m. All-American Adam Sutton has been Providence’s top runner this spring. He has qualified for the NCAA Regionals and ranks third in the BIG EAST (14:10.29) in the 5,000m. Sophomore Liam Reale won the 800m (1:49.89) at the Brown Invitational on April 12 placing him among the top 10 in the conference.
After a fourth-place finish a year ago, Rutgers looks for a strong showing with the help of returning discus champion Sam Segond. He helped the Scarlet Knights to a second-place finish at the Princeton Invitational. At the Navy Invitational RU had nine first-place finishes and four at second. Seton Hall returns as the defending champs in the 1,600m relay. The relay team earned a first-place finish at the adidas Raleigh Relays with an NCAA Regional qualifying time of 3:05.71. Senior Marvin Regis also earned an NCAA qualifying time and a win in the 100m. Junior Dewayne Barrett broke St. John’s oldest school record in the 400m with a time of 46.19, a tenth of a second faster than the 1965 record. In the field events the Red Storm will look to Jason Goulart who has earned two first-place finishes in the hammer throw.
Senior Tim Adrian, the 2002 shot put champ, has placed no lower than third place in any event for Syracuse this season. On the track the Orange will look to Valrij Petrulevich who has qualified in the 800m and the 400m. Villanova will be led by middle and long distance runners. Defending champ in the 800m, Ryan Hayden, returns with fellow champ Tom Parlapiano in the 1,500m. Spryridon Julien leads Virginia Tech into this year’s championship as VT’s record-holder in the hammer throw in this, his rookie season. Tied for second in the league in the pole vault is teammate Brian Mondeschein with a vault of 4.90m. West Virginia’s Mark Kelman leads the BIG EAST in the triple jump coming into the championship with a jump of 15.15m at the Mt. SAC Relays. At the Penn Relays, WVU junior Mike Yurcho won the pole vault by clearing 5.05m.
Women’s Preview:
Miami enters the BIG EAST Championship having already had 17 athletes qualify for the NCAA Regional Championship. Defending 100m dash champion, sophomore Lauryn Williams, leads the Hurricanes with the league’s top time of 11.23, and is also a member of UM’s top-performing 4x400m relay team. Rookie Charlette Greggs has yet to lose a race this season. She leads the BIG EAST in the 200m with a time of 23.19. UM also returns 100m hurdle champion, senior Sharianne Lawson, who ranks among the nation’s best not only in the 100m hurdles (8th), but also the long jump (8th).
Boston College took home first-place honors at the Husky Spring Open at New Hampshire and second at the Southern Connecticut State Invitational. Saki Sugano tied BC’s record in the pole vault (11-6.25) and Jessia Fazekas surpassed the school record in the shot put by 9.5 inches (43.5m). Connecticut started its season at the Hurricane Invitational with three second-place finishes led by Andrea Gourdine’s (Penfiled, NY) performance in the triple jump (11.77m). On a return trip to Miami for the Miami Gatorade Invitational, Amy Parkosewich (Bethlehem, CT) took home second-place honors in the discus and hammer throw. Georgetown earned a third-place team finish at the 2002 BIG EAST Championship, earning first in the 3,200m relay. This year’s 3,200m relay team leads the league with a time of 8:43.59. Sophomore Nicole Lee tops the conference in the 10,000m race (34:26.03), while junior Maura McClusker ranks third in the 800m. Junior Monica Hargrove currently has the nation’s seventh-best time in the 400m dash (53.66).
Finishing second in last year’s meet was Notre Dame. The Irish will again be in contention for the title with the help of a deep sprinting group led by Kymia Love. She ranks among the league’s top five in the 100m, 200m and the 400m. Rookie Molly Huddle leads the distance runners after setting an American junior record in the 5,000m (15:36.95) this season at the Mt. SAC Relays. Tamara McGill helped Pittsburgh to six first-place finishes at the Charlotte 49er Classic. McGill won the high jump and took home second-place honors in the 100m hurdles. In the 400m hurdles Elizabeth Bayne holds second in the league with a time of 58.45 from the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays. Roisin McGettigan will look to win her third 3,000m steeplechase title for Providence. Mary Cullen will lead the Friars in the 5,000m with an NCAA Regional qualifying time of 16:23.32, placing her second in the conference.
Rutgers won the Metropolitan Championships April 12 taking home first-place finishes in 11 events. Jen Austin won the javelin with a throw of 42.72 in the 14-team meet. St. John’s junior Shernette Hyatt-Davis finished first in the 200m at the Colonial Relays and won the 400m at the Metropolitan Relays. Alina Abramova won the triple and long jumps for the Red Storm at the Paper Tiger Invitational at LSU. Bridgette Ingram leads Seton Hall as the defending heptathlon champ. The Pirates’ relay teams have had a strong season with a first-place time of 8:53.22 in the 3,200m relay at the adidas Raleigh Relays.
Syracuse is led by graduate student Alison Culley. She surpassed her own 100m time with an 11.54 performance this season. In the throws, Johvonne Hernandez has regionally qualified in the shot put, discus and the hammer by breaking personal records six times this season. Villanova will look to distance runners Iona Parusheva and Rebecca Mitchell to lead VU to a strong finish. Parusheva owns the league’s second-fastest time in the 3,000m steeplechase, while Mitchell looks to improve on her third-place finish in last year’s 1,500m. Michelle Ezzie and Christine Heffernan lead the Wildcats in the field, both owning best performances in the pole vault and discus, respectively. Virginia Tech has broken three records this season in the 800m, the 3,000m steeplechase and the pole vault. Look for Marlies Overbeeke (800m, 1,500m) and January Williams (shot put) to place well for the Hokies. West Virginia sophomore Tara Struyk ranks second in the 10,000m (34:45.34). Megan Metcalfe returns as the 5,000m champion and currently ranks fourth in the conference with a time of 16:44.50.
