By Jill Saftel, News Staff
Several individual performances highlighted both the men’s and women’s track teams’ trip to the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) championships May 3 and 4 in Towson, Md., and while neither team was able to claim the top overall team finish, athletes on both the men’s and women’s teams grabbed first-place finishes.
The men’s team was led by Eric Jenkins and Jared Lane, whose efforts helped lift the team to a third-place finish. Jenkins, a junior distance runner, took first in both the 800-meter and 1,500-meter runs. His 3:47:33 finish in the 1,500-meter run broke the facility record. Additionally, his 1:52:06 time in the 800-meter run was a new personal best for Jenkins.
On the first day of competition, sophomore Lane ran his own personal best in the 100-meter dash. Junior thrower Max Milder also nabbed a win of his own in the hammer throw, making him a CAA title winner in two consecutive seasons.
“We had a phenomenal meet and the year has been awesome,” Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Cathrine Erickson said.
While in the past there has been a lot of hype around the CAA meet, Erickson said this year there has been a lot of focus, which has made her both excited for the athletes and proud of her staff.
There was no shortage of individual wins on the women’s side, with Nia Howard, Nicole Gennard and Jocelyn Hubbard all finishing in first in their respective events. Howard, a graduate student at Northeastern, took first in the long jump with 5.91 meters. Genard, a freshman, picked up wins in the shot put with a throw of 12.05 meters and in the 200-meter dash with a 26.20-second finish. She continued to excel on Saturday as the competition continued, becoming the first Northeastern athlete to win the heptathlon.
Freshman Hubbard recorded an individual win Saturday with a 2:10:39 first-place time in the 800-meter run. Despite the personal wins, the women’s team finished in fifth place out of six teams competing.
Erickson said the teams had 52 personal bests among 45 athletes, even with some on the team not having their best meet.
“That’s amazing,” she said. “They’ve come together more as a team, instead of divided based on event group.”
The New England Championships are next on the schedule for the Huskies, beginning today and extending through Saturday in North Easton. Erickson said they’ll be bringing a full team to the competition and that everyone who was entered has made the meet.
“University of New Hampshire is going to be a force to be reckoned with and there are other good teams but I think we are going to bring one of the best balanced and hungry teams to that meet,” she said.
