Fitchburg State Finishes the Regular Season on a Strong Note at the Tufts Cupid Challenge
Saint-Juste dominates in three events to bolster men; Harrison qualifies for ECAC's in the 1,000m to pace women
Medford, Mass. – The Fitchburg State men's and women's indoor track teams wrapped up their regular season at the 2015 Tufts Cupid Challenge on Saturday and are looking very strong for the MASCAC Championships next week.
On the women's side, senior captain Jenae Harrison proved she is a force in any middle distance event with an ECAC qualifying time in the 1,000m. Harrison, who was using the 1,000m to help prepare her for future 800m races, was determined to go through the 800m mark in 2:25 and then close with everything she had left. As the fourth lap began, the field of runners swarmed around her and put on the brakes, forcing Harrison to go though the 800m in 2:28 and change. With only a lap to go, the senior sensation kicked as hard as she could and finished with an impressive personal record of 3:08.85.
Freshman Annie Woolley continued her outstanding rookie campaign with yet another personal record and DIII New England qualifying time in the 60m hurdles. During the prelims Woolley sprinted her way to a 9.74 to get her into the finals, but it was in the finals where she really went to work. The young hurdler exploded out of the blocks and crossed the line in 6th with a time of 9.57 seconds to crush her previous best by 0.16 seconds.
Senior Arthina Robert came in eighth overall in the 60m dash with a time of 8.20 seconds, while newcomer Nicole Gaffney ran a very strong double, first running a MASCAC qualifying time of 2:29.17 in the 800m and then finishing with the arduous 3,000m where she also qualified for MASCAC's with a time of 11:27.22. Captain Rebecca McClure vaulted her way to a DIII New England qualifying height of 3.05m in the pole vault and then came back to run a strong 200m in 27.89.
Freshman Sadie Zbikowski surprised her coaches with an outstanding 800m in 2:32.55 to win her heat and qualify her for MASCAC's. The young all-around athlete also hit a 2.60m MASCAC qualifying height in the pole vault and led the 4x800m team with a split of 2:35. Freshman Jenna Phelps, who was also a member of the 4x800 team, ran a MASCAC qualifying time of 1:45.70 in the 600m. Rounding out the top Falcon performers was sophomore Morgan Steele who led the team in throwing with a toss of 12.92m in the weight throw, while adding a mark of 9.99m in the shot put.
For the men, senior Phillip Saint-Juste demonstrated that he is an athlete of many talents with multiple MASCAC and DIII New England qualifying marks in the field and on the track. Saint-Juste started his busy day by qualifying for the finals in the 60m high hurdles. From there the senior hurdled his way to a third place showing and DIII New England qualifying time of 8.67 seconds in the finals. Then it was off to try his luck in the horizontal jumps where he first launched himself out to a season best in the long jump with a MASCAC qualifying jump of 6.36 meters, while also qualifying for the DIII NE's in the triple with a mark of 12.86m.
The freshman tandem of Ben Sattiewhite and Chavinskee Milcent had another outstanding day in the high jump. Sattiewhite won the entire meet with a jump of 1.93m, while Milcent was not far behind, placing third overall with a jump of 1.88m. Their performances qualified them for the ECAC and DIII New England Championships, respectively. Milcent also competed in the long jump where he found himself only 0.03m away from teammate Saint-Juste with a leap of 6.33m. Newcomer Timothy Breen had a career day as well, vaulting a huge personal record of 4.15m to place second among collegians and qualify for the DIII New England Championships.
Senior distance runner Eric Ouellette continued his strong indoor season with a ninth place showing in the mile. Although Ouellette will tell you that this particular distance is out of his comfort zone, he is definitely very good at it. Ouellette posted a blazing time of 4:27.77 to improve his personal best and top all other MASCAC runners in the field. Senior captain Jim Quinlan also had a great day as the experienced middle distance runner ran his fastest 1,000m on a flat track all year with a time of 2:37.84 to edge him ever closer to the DIII New England Championships.
Rounding out the top Falcon performers were junior Daniel Fitzpatrick, who qualified for MASCAC's in the 600m with a time of 1:29.80, 800m runners Richard Ethier, IV and Matthew Cuomo, who posted MASCAC qualifying times of 2:04.30 and 2:05.16, respectively, and sophomore Nicholas Levenson who hit a MASCAC qualifying time of 9.68 in the 60m HH and came back to run a 24.77 in the 200m.
The Fitchburg State men's and women's indoor track teams return to action next Saturday as they compete at the 2015 MASCAC/Alliance indoor championships hosted by Rhode Island College, starting at 10 a.m.
Courtesy of Fitchburg State men's and women's assistant track coach Chris Kibler