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 Lamarcus Outing, Charlotte |
May 3, 2008
AMHERST, Mass. - Despite chilly conditions and intermittent periods of rain, five meet records were established on the opening day of competition on Saturday at the 2008 Atlantic 10 Men's & Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships, held at the Track & Field Complex on the campus of the University of Massachusetts.
Vying for its seventh men's title in eight years, defending champion Rhode Island leads with 75 points after seven events. Charlotte is second with 51 points, followed by Duquesne (36), Massachusetts (25) and La Salle (25), Fordham (17), Temple (14), Richmond (14), Saint Joseph's (nine) and Xavier (four).
Sophomore Andrew McCann of Massachusetts opened the day with a record-setting time of 30:04.87 in the 10,000m run, edging Duquesne junior Josh Eddy (30:14.74). It shattered the previous A-10 record time of 30:35.82, set by Dan McGrath of La Salle in 2005.
"It was a fast race and the pace made it somewhat awkward but it worked out well," said McCann, who was competing in his first-ever 10,000m run.
"Coach [O'Brien] said that it was important for us to come out and set the tone for the meet and this was really big."
Not to be outdone, UMass senior Christine DeRosa defended her 10,000m crown in the ensuing race in a Championship-record time of 36:07.62, eclipsing her record-setting time of 36:07.62 from a year ago. Freshmen Christina Schneider of Xavier (26:47.28) and La Salle's Kristina Kubula finished second and third, respectively.
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After eight events, Rhode Island leads the women's Championship with a total of 53.5 points, while Dayton is second with 51.5 points. Two-time defending champion Charlotte is third with 47points, followed by Massachusetts (29) and La Salle (29), Temple (25), Richmond (23), Duquesne (17.5), Xavier (13), Saint Louis (9.5), Saint Joseph's (eight) and Fordham (six).
A pair of records were established in the 3,000m steeplechase as senior Tom Slosky of Duquesne won his third gold medal in the event with a record-setting time of 8:46.94. Chris Caravelli of La Salle held the previous record since 2004 with a time of 9:03.65. On the women's side, Charlotte senior Tsehaye Dagnachew won her second title in three years with a time of 10:29.16, eclipsing her record time of 10:32.11 at the 2006 Championship. Rhode Island senior Jasmine Jennings shattered Michelle Fournier's (URI) 1997 meet record mark of 179-6 in the hammer throw as she registered a winning attempt of 202-01, edging teammate Sarah Thornton (198-6). Earlier in the day, Thornton became the first four-time discus champion in Conference history with a toss of 153-8 despite fouling on her first two throws.
"I took a little break, figured things out and got one out there to get into finals and then did what I needed to do," said Thornton, who finished more than five feet ahead of runner-up Lisa Wilson of Massachusetts.
"I worked really hard all four years and am very grateful. I put a lot of dedication in and it's been fun."
Other notable performances on Saturday included senior Sean Strizzi of Rhode Island clearing 15-1 to become the Conference's first four-time champion in the pole vault; Charlotte junior Pat Springs winning an unprecedented third women's long jump title with a mark of 20-1.5; junior Matt DiBuono of Fordham defending his title in the hammer throw (197-3); and Charlotte junior Lamarcus Outing capturing his third gold medal in the long jump with a mark of 23-0.75.
Action commences at 8:45am on Sunday, May 4, with the 110m hurdles in the men's decathlon, followed by the women's javelin at 9:00am. For complete coverage of the 2008 Atlantic 10 Men's & Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships, including live audio and video coverage, log on to www.atlantic10.org
