The men’s and women’s track teams started their respective seasons on strong notes Saturday when they opened the indoor portion of the schedule by hosting the Husky Winter Carnival at Roxbury’s Reggie Lewis Center.
Three Huskies won events on the women’s side, while two of the men also brought home first-place finishes.
Senior Brittany Moriarty won the mile for the women with a time of 5:06.84, while junior Consandria Walker won the triple jump on a leap of 31-feet-1.75-inches. Senior Patricia Harrison rounded out the women’s victories in the shot put with a toss of 44-feet-9.5 inches.
Sophomore Evan Whetsell earned first place in the 800-meter with a 1:54.74 run and junior Nate Hunter won the shot put on a throw of 59-feet-5.5-inches, a mark that meets the national tournament’s provisional standard and puts him seventh on NU’s all-time indoor list.
“We did fairly well both with the men and women,” said head coach Sherman Hart. “We probably did a little bit better than fairly well, in fact, but I’m still cautious because it’s the first meet. I had eight people qualify for the Eastern championships, which is the benchmark most teams base their teams off of.”
In addition to Walker, Harrison, Whetsell and Hunter, sophomore Kristen Martin (third in 5000 meter), sophomore Althea Charles (third in shot put), senior Bamidele Faboyede (second in weight throw), and junior Jonathan Hall (second in 500 meter dash) qualified for the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference championship, which occurs March 7 through March 8, a week before nationals.
Hart said that while the meet was encouraging, his teams still has a number of areas to improve upon.
“[We could improve on] technical stuff, starting with the sprints on the women’s side,” he said. “On the men’s side I think we’re just waiting to get the football players so we have some sprinters. We still need some improvement in the field event areas, like the jumps, [ [and] throwing. We have a very young crew.”
The end of the football season sees an increase in the men’s track roster, as many football players stay in shape in the offseason by competing for the track team.
The Huskies got a number of other notable finishes on the track, as Martin’s finish in the 5000 meter not only placed her third but set a Northeastern record. Her mark beat that of senior Kristie Gagnon, who set the previous record, 17:40.99, at last year’s Winter Carnival.
Sophomore Jessica Barton finished third in the 3000-meter in 10:18.21, and Charles placed third in the shot put as well. The women got two more top-three finishes from freshman Christina Izzicupo and junior Celeste Holder, who finished third in the 400-meter at 59.56 seconds and third in the long jump with 17-feet-11.75-inches, respectively.
For the men, Hall and freshman Teddy Vrountas each earned a second-place finish. Vrountas ran 8:44.57 in the 3000-meter. Junior Ryan Miling finished third in the 1000-meter in 2:36.11, as well, and freshman Brian McGovern was part of a three-way tie for first in the pole vault with a 15′-foot-5.75-inch leap.
“I think it was a very positive meet,” Hart said. “For me as a head coach, this team has worked very hard this fall – far harder than most teams I’ve had. They’ve done all the things they need to do to be where they’re at right now.”
