The independent student newspaper of Northeastern University

The Huntington News

The independent student newspaper of Northeastern University

The Huntington News

The independent student newspaper of Northeastern University

The Huntington News

Huskies shine in Boston meets

Huskies+shine+in+Boston+meets

By P.J. Wright, news staff

The Northeastern University (NU) men’s and women’s track and field teams began the February portion of their schedule with two meets in two days – Friday at Harvard University and Saturday at Boston University.

The two squads finished the weekend with a combined 29 top-five finishes over the two-days span, along with 60 top-10 finishes.

On Friday, NU earned 13 of its top-five efforts. Sophomore Ryan Kim earned silver in the shot put with a 15.81 meter throw, while freshman Priscilla Senoo performed well in the women’s throwing circle, placing ninth at 11.19 meters.

Juniors Alex Julian and Chris Manning and sophomore Nick Fofana all tied for second in the high jump with a height of 1.89 meters.

In the 60-meter hurdles, freshman Shawn Bleichert and junior Betsy Garnick placed third on their respective sides. Garnick finished with a new personal best of 8.56 seconds, and Bleichert added on to his strong campaign with a 8.17-second finish.

On Saturday, NU earned 16 more top-five finishes.

Junior Paul Duffey led the charge on the men’s side, taking home gold in his first 500-meter race of the season. He finished with a time of 1:03.84, good for eighth on the all-time indoor performance list for NU.

Sophomore Jordan Samuels also excelled for the men, earning a new personal best in the triple jump with a 14.75-meter leap and landing him in third place. The distance put Samuels sixth on the Huskies’ all-time performance list.

For the women’s team, Sophomore Brooke Wojeski had yet another strong outing on the track, placing third in the mile run with a personal best time of 4:59.11, shifting from ninth to sixth all-time in NU history.

According to Wojeski, the personal best was a good sign of improvement, but she knows that she needs to keep her eyes further down the line to achieve her goals that she has set for herself.

“Whenever I get a personal record or have a good race, it’s a nice reminder that the training and work I’m putting in is paying off,” Wojeski said in an email to The News. “My main goal is really to just continue to stay focused and work hard in hopes that I can continue to improve.”

Danielle Voke moved to eighth all-time for NU with her sixth-place 3,000-meter run of 10:07.63. The 4×400-meter relay team of Camille Gooden, Kelsey Sullivan, Ore Akinpelu and Patrice Williams finished in second place with a time of 3:53.64.

The Northeastern squads have come into form in the recent weeks, inching closer to the possibility of a second-straight New England Championship title. In a sport where many aspects seem individually oriented, sometimes the importance of camaraderie gets overlooked, Wojeski said.

“I definitely would not be running the times I have been without my teammates running beside me at every training session,” Wojeski added.  “It can be so easy to slack off when running on your own but they help keep me focused and push me to be better.”

The two teams will stay in the city as they head back to Boston University for the Valentine Invitational Friday, Feb. 12 and Saturday, Feb. 13.

 

Photo courtesy Jim Pierce, Northeastern Athletics.

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