By Adam Riglian
The men’s and women’s track team began their season Saturday with the non-scoring New Balance Winter Carnival.
The men’s team performed well, getting wins in the 55-meter dash and the 400-meter by Obaro Emenike and junior Christian Tirella respectively, while Derek Anderson took second in the shotput.
The women’s team got extraordinary performances from captain sprinter Jordine Kimbrel, middle distance runners Erin Ballard and Laura McCloskey and captain pole vaulter Laura Chimelewski.
Coach Sherman Hart, while noting his runners were not at their best quite yet, called it a “solid beginning.”
Despite being injured last season, sprinter Emenike won a heated 55-meter and finished in the top 10 of the 200-meter.
“It is nice to see that I took a year off, came back and still ran a time fast enough to win the meet,” Emenike said.
The team placed first or second in all but one event under 800 meters. The distance runners, who are still recovering from a long cross-country season, were not pressured to perform, Hart said. Emenike said he was very impressed by the team’s performances, which included a second in the 4×400 meter relay.
Tirella ran a sharp 49.52 to take home the 400-meter. His performance, along with Conrad Dalton’s and Jose Fernandez’, show the team’s strength in the long sprint and middle distance races.
In field events, Anderson took second in the shot put, but an asterisk had to be placed next to it. Anderson threw the Olympic-style 18-pound shot, as opposed to the collegiate level 16-pound shot, as a workout exercise.
The women’s team continued business as usual, outperforming all others at the Carnival. Sprinters Kimbrel and Shanae Henry ran first and second in the 55-meter, as did Erin Ballard and Brittany Moriarty in the 800-meter. Tramaine Shaw and Nubia Newsome continued this pattern, taking first and second in the 55-meter hurdles.
NU women took the top two places in four events, and won five others. Their domination was most apparent in the 4×400 meter relay, where they won by over two seconds, while the third place team was over eight seconds behind the Huskies.
Moving into a new conference this year may be a difficult transition for the Huskies, who now will face powerful teams like George Mason, the national champions only nine years ago.
“We are looking to make some noise in this new league and we would like nothing more than to be the first team to win the championship meet outdoors,” Emanike said.
Hart said his team will be energized by the new conference and improvement in competition. He is not intimidated by the CAA, believing his men’s team will be top four and his women’s team will carry on their winning tradition.
