By Dan Canastra
The Huskies ran in what must of felt like a monsoon last weekend at the Brown Invitational. Northeastern finished fifth in the field of nine teams Saturday on the soggy track at Brown University. The rain was relentless most of the day, with the sun only peaking as the meet came to a close through the clouds.
Northeastern competed last weekend without Idris Payne and Vinny Tortorella, two athletes that the team counts on for points. Northeastern coach Sherman Hart wanted to rest the players that had competed in the three previous meets. Despite not having some of the teams best performers, Hart was happy with the effort at the meet.
“I felt we ran well, the guys ran very competitively. It gave us an opportunity to coach the athletes a little more than we normally would,” Hart said.
Sophomore Derek Anderson had an outstanding day, winning the shot put and discus, while finishing second in the hammer throw. Anderson scored nearly half (28) of Northeastern’s 57 points.
The results “felt pretty good,” Anderson said. “The weather wasn’t too nice but I went out and did what I could. I just keep trying to get better for the bigger meets down the road.”
The results didn’t surprise Hart, who expects competitive performances every meet. Those high expectations don’t bother Anderson, who describes himself as a perfectionist.
“The only pressure I feel is the pressure I put on myself,” he said.
Peter Jasmin, a sophomore, also had an exceptional performance last weekend placing second and sixth in the 110-meter hurdles and 400-meter races, respectively.
The coaches were surprised by the javelin effort of sophomore Ricardo Parente. He finished third with a distance of 176-6.
The Huskies should have a full roster at this weekend’s Solomon Invitational in Dedham, Mass.
“We’re going after this meet. It is going be our tune up. We’re bringing our full roster. Everyone is going to participate in their primary events. This week we’re back as a full team,” said Hart.
This week is the start of a long stretch for the Huskies. They have five straight meets in as many weekends, including three consecutive championship meets. The long road to a championship begins at 10 a.m. at Solomon track this Saturday.
