By Emily McCarthy, News Staff
The Northeastern men’s and women’s track teams ended regular season competition with a successful showing at the Boston University Fast Meet at BU last Thursday, with numerous Huskies taking advantage of their last chance to qualify for the New England championships. Several athletes posted season-best marks that earned them the opportunity to compete in the postseason.
On the men’s side, freshman Kevin Hunter won the 400-meter dash and qualified for the New England and Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America (IC4A) competitions with a time of 49.07 seconds. Sophomore Stephen Sollowin also qualified for the New England and IC4A meets with a time of 8:11.66 in the 3,000-meter run.
In the 200-meter dash, junior Alex Shapiro and freshman Donovan Henry finished second and third, respectively. Sophomore Jared Lane took the second spot in the 60-meter hurdles. All three runners qualified for the New England championships.
While the Northeastern squad ran well on the track, the Huskies were exceptionally successful on the field, too.
“It was a big day for the throws,” junior Max Milder said. “There were PRs [personal records] across the board.”
Milder finished first in the weight throw with a New England and IC4A qualifying mark of 17.92 meters.
“I want to win everything,” he said of his postseason. “I want to be number one. My goal is to be in the top three.”
Junior James Hall also qualified for the New England and IC4A competitions with a third-place finish in the weight throw with a mark of 17.32 meters.
Northeastern throwers dominated the shot put, nabbing three of the top four spots. Freshman Jeremy Octeau’s throw of 15.78 meters took the second spot and qualified him for the New England and IC4A championships. Junior Kevin Rosenberg captured the third spot with a mark of 15.40 meters while senior Mark Mastone’s mark of 15.11 meters took fourth. Both throwers qualified for the New England competition.
The women’s side also dominated at the BU Fast Meet, led by freshman Jenna Serunian’s first-place throw in the shot put. She qualified for the New England championships with a mark of 12.85 meters. Serunian also had a fifth-place finish in the weight throw.
“It was a different meet than usual because it was a much smaller meet,” Serunian said. “I didn’t really know what to expect but I felt really good about my performance. Everyone did surprisingly well and the energy at the meet was really good.”
Freshman Alexandra Rose finished third in the weight throw with a New England qualifying mark of 15.07 meters. She also finished fourth in the shot put with a personal best throw of 11.82 meters.
Three Huskies qualified for the New England championships in the 200-meter dash. Sophomore Victoria Alexander took the second spot with a personal best time of 24.68 seconds. Sophomore Jessica Dunnigan finished fourth and junior Ashlee Pitts finished fifth. In the 400-meter dash, freshman Camille Gooden qualified for the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) and New England competitions with a time of 56.38 seconds. Sophomore Monet Brathwaite finished fifth and freshman Meaghan Dowd finished eighth. Both runners achieved New England qualifying times.
Freshman Jocelyn Hubbard captured second place in the 800-meter run and qualified for the ECAC and New England meets with a time of 2:13.17. Senior Eryn Wheeler’s New England qualifying time of 2:14.87 was good for a third-place finish.
The athletes who have qualified during the regular season will compete in the New England Championships on Feb. 22 and 23.
Milder said he expects many of his teammates to have top finishes at the championships, considering his team’s level of effort.
“We’re going to go out there and give it the best shot we got,” he said.
