By Dan Canastra
Northeastern went into the New England Championship without their full roster and still finished third out of 38 teams.
The Huskies (46 points), who finished behind Southern Connecticut (105) and Rhode Island (127), did not bring a full roster because head coach Sherman Hart wanted to rest some of the teams top performers for the IC4A and NCAA East Regional meets. Hart was very pleased with the effort and performance that the team displayed last weekend in Durham, New Hampshire.
The team’s two top throwers, Vinny Tortorella and Derek Anderson, did what they seem to do week after week for the Huskies: win. Tortorella, a senior co-captain, blasted past the competition with a personal best of 211-3 in the hammer. Anderson, a sophomore, earned a first place finish in the shot put (56 feet 10 inches) and a second place finish in the discus (171-1).
“Winning the shot was good, I was glad to win,” said Anderson. “I was disappointed in the discus it was my first loss in four years, including high school and college.”
“There are two people [Tortorella and Anderson] we can count on to score big points every week,” said Hart. “They’ve been great for our program all year and above all they come to compete.”
Junior Adam Crossman had a notable performance, finishing third in the javelin with a throw of 191-11.
Next weekend the Huskies will travel to Princeton, New Jersey to compete in the IC4A Championship.With the IC4A being a qualifying meet, only the best track athletes on the East Coast will be competing. For one to qualify for the meet they have to be in the top 24 in the East Coast for a running event and the top-18 for a throwing event.
Expect to see the likes of Anderson and Tortorella to be competing in more than one event this weekend. Sophomore sprinter Idris Payne, who has consistently placed in the 200 and 400-meter races all season long, will be competing next weekend along with four other athletes. Crossman will be participating in the javelin, Peter Jasmin and Bryan McCants will be leaping over hurdles throughout the weekend while junior Ryan Cahill will be soaring through the air competing in the pole vault.
The IC4A, “is one of the biggest meets we’re having all season. The meet features most of the top athletes in the East Coast its going to be pretty competitive and everyone is going bring what they got,” Payne said. “You got to prepare harder because those people are the top runners in east in order to stay up with you have train and run harder than usual.”
Anderson approaches these types of meets differently than his teammate Payne.
“I have to go out and do my game. I’m just going keep doing the same thing with a positive attitude and know that I can do well,” Anderson said. The IC4A is, “a tune up for the regional. I think that it’s very important that we go there and do well.”
There are going to be 90 division one schools competing at the meet. With many of the top athletes and programs in the country competing this weekend Hart still feels that the Huskies can finish in the top ten. A strong showing at the IC4A’s will build confidence and momentum toward the NCAA East Regional, which is just a week away.
