By Jeff Powalisz

For Northeastern track coach Sherman Hart, battling the elements has been a challenge thus far in the chilly spring season.

In spite of that, Derek Anderson, Aaron Hill and Idris Payne have completed their preparation with resounding ease.

Anderson, the junior thrower from Wrentham, continued his dominance in the throwing events at the Brown Invitational on Saturday where the Huskies finished fourth overall with 75 points.

The co-captain scored 20 points alone for Northeastern with a first-place finish in the discus (179-11), a second-place showing in the shot put (54-02.5) and a seventh spot in the hammer throw (158-05).

Dartmouth won the meet with 139 points, while host Brown (123.5) and Yale (87.5) placed ahead of the Huskies as well.

“This was mainly a meet to get in shape,” Hart said. “I didn’t even run anybody. We were just loosening up, just saying ‘let’s stay healthy, let’s keep running.'”

Sophomore Hill had a career day in the pole vault, with a personal best leap of 15-11, winning the event, and finishing six inches higher than any other competitor (Brown’s Grant Bowen placed second at 15-5).

“Aaron is really coming on, he’s jumping far better than I expected,” Hart said. “I’m looking for big things from him, he’ll be huge at the conference championships.”

Payne ran the 200, and came out on top at 21.93, ahead of Brown’s David Owen (22.16) and Yale’s Russ Kempf (22.40).

“Idris and Derek are Idris and Derek,” Hart said of the two successful juniors.

Conrad Dalton and Christian Tirella both grabbed points for Northeastern in the 400, with fourth (49.41) and sixth (50.15) place finishes, respectively.

Aside from the top finishes of Anderson, Hill, and Payne, the story of the day for the team was its work in the relay events, where the Huskies dominated both the 4×100 and 4×400.

In the 4×100, the Huskies came out on top over Brown and Rhode Island at 42.01, while in the 4×400, Northeastern grabbed the close win at 3:15.24. Yale was right behind the Huskies at 3:15.60.

Roscell Lopez-Pitts added another six points for the team with a strong showing in the long jump. He passed 22 feet on his way to a 22-01.75 third-place leap. Only first-place finisher Ahmad Abdur-Rahim (Dartmouth, 22-06.50) and second-place finisher Joe Marucheck (Dartmouth, 22-05.75) leaped farther than 22 feet on the day.

Michael Randall added a late point for the team in the javelin, with an eighth-place throw of 173-06.

“I think we’re getting more depth, which means we can go into meets and do very well,” Hart said. “We need to establish our depth because it has hurt us in the past. We always get out [firsts and seconds] but we need some [thirds to eights]. Roscell did great in the long jump and Christian ran the 400 very well. Randall did well in the javelin too.”

The Huskies host the Solomon Husky Invitational Saturday at 10 a.m.

WOMEN’S TRACK

The women’s track team finished sixth out of seven squads at the Brown Invitation, as well.

First place finishes were recorded by Aquilla Williams-Judge, Laura Chmielewski and the 4×400-meter relay team.

Williams-Judge took first in both the 100-meter hurdles and the long jump, while Chmielewski triumphed in the pole vault.