After being ranked 25th in the nation, and expected to place fifth overall, the University of New Haven women’s track and field team proved them wrong with a fourth place finish at Saturday’s 2013 Northeast-10 Indoor Track & Field Championships at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center in Boston.
For seniors, this was their last Indoor Conference Championship meet and they showed up to compete, leaving everything on the track and running with their hearts.
Junior Ada Udaya was named NE-10 Athlete of the Year, and won two events on the track. Udaya won the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.50 seconds. She also won the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.41. Finally, Udaya was a member of the fourth-place 4×400-meter relay team alongside sophomore Ivy Watts, freshman Marsha’e Holt and junior Monica Yanez. The team ran a time of 4:01.51.
Watts also scored individually with an eighth-place time of 57.91 seconds in the 400-meter dash.
In the field events, sophomore Briana Conyers won the triple jump and posted the best mark in NE-10 Championship history with a leap of 12.06 meters.
Sophomore Tiara Mitchell added a third-place and NCAA provisional qualifying distance of 11.55 meters, and senior Alissa Howell’s 11.00 meters earned her sixth place. The Chargers also scored in the long jump, as Mitchell placed third with 5.32m, Conyers landed in fifth with a jump of 5.31m, and Howell finished in eighth place with 5.19m.
Senior Shraya Manick claimed a victory in the weight throw with an NCAA provisional qualifying throw of 16.02 meters, and placed fourth in the shot put with a mark of 11.40 meters. Junior Brittney Bussiere also scored in the weight throw, with a toss of 12.55 meters, earning sixth-place.
Freshman Victoria Rozumek topped her personal-best with a second-place finish in the high jump, clearing the bar at 1.62 meters.
Rachel Purtorti matched her own UNH record in the pole vault with a height of 3.05 meters and a fourth place finish overall.
For the distance races, the Chargers placed fourth in the distance medley relay with a time of 13:22.95. The team consisted of sophomore Samantha Mathewson, seniors Meredith O’Connor and Bridget Faria, and sophomore Danielle Sorrentino. The 4×800-meter relay team of Faria, freshman Olivia Tangney, Sorrentino, and Mathewson finished sixth with a time of 10:21.76.
The Chargers finished in fourth place with 96 points, just five behind third-place Stonehill. Massachusetts Lowell won the meet handily with 216 points. American International placed second with 123 points.
On the men’s side, David Thomas was named the Athlete of the Meet after winning the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.89 seconds, the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.66 seconds and placing second in the long jump with a leap of 7.23 meters.
The 4×400-meter relay team comprised of sophomore Nazim Roberts-Smith, freshman Jamaal James, Thomas, and freshman Taylor DenBleyker. The relay placed third with a time of 3:22.19.
Freshman Devin Rose also scored for the Chargers in the 500-meter dash with a time of 1:08.16.
The men placed seventh in the 11-team field with 37 points.
New Haven will move on to the New England Track and Championships on Feb. 22 and 23 at Boston University. The NCAA Division II Championships will be held in Birmingham, Ala. on March 8 and 9.
