By P.J. Wright, news staff
Five Northeastern University (NU) track and field student athletes wrapped up their outdoor seasons in the NCAA East Preliminaries at the University of North Florida’s Hodges Stadium on Thursday, May 26 and Friday, May 27. The five athletes helped the NU track and field program achieve great success over their careers, and will leave their names scattered throughout the record books.
Junior Kyle Darrow was the Huskies’ top finisher on the week, placing 17th in the long jump with a leap of 7.47 meters as the only Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) competitor in the event. Darrow finished his season as Northeastern’s record holder in the long jump (7.78 meters) and shares the school record in the 4×100-meter relay (40.27 seconds).
Junior captain Paul Duffey ran the 800 meter in 1 minute, 49.74 seconds – just .67 seconds shy of his personal best – which was good for 30th. Duffey was the also the only competitor from the CAA in the race. The NU all-time record holder in the 800-meter run was ranked No. 6 in the northeast before the race, but he was able to defeat the region’s top performer Jesse Garn from the State University of New York at Binghamton, who finished in 34th.
Senior Nicole Genard concluded her collegiate career with a 38th-place finish in the javelin with a throw of 40.48 meters. She exits Northeastern as the school’s all-time record holder in the javelin (48.64 meters) and third all-time in the heptathlon (4,862 points).
Junior Lucy Young completed the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:35.7, good for 35th place. She will enter her senior year as the defending silver medalist from the CAA Championships and bronze medalist from the New England Outdoor Championships. She also holds the school’s second fastest time in steeplechase at 10:17.05.
Redshirt senior Jared Lane was disqualified for pushing down a hurdle in the 110-meter hurdles, but he finishes his Northeastern career with three schools records – the 110-meter hurdles, 4×100-meter relay and 60-meter hurdles – two CAA championships and two New England titles.
The Huskies’ track programs completed one of their most successful seasons in decades. In addition to sweeping the New England title for both men and women, NU set four outdoor records this season, thanks to Darrow (long jump, 7.78 meters), Lane (110-meter hurdles, 13.89), Genard (javelin, 48.64m) and sophomore phenom Kelsey Sullivan (heptathlon, 5,063 points).
Photo courtesy Jim Pierce, Northeastern Athletics
