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Monday, April 24, 2006
TRACK TEAMS CHASE CONFERENCE TITLES SATURDAY
Men are after fifth straight Little East championship, first outdoor Alliance crown
WILLIMANTIC, Conn. -- The men's and women teams will compete for the Little East Conference and New England Alliance men’s and women’s outdoor track & field championships this Saturday at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
Without having their own track and field facility until this past summer, the men won their fourth straight Little East Conference championship a year ago with a 41-point win over runner-up University of Southern Maine.
The men’s team has returned three LEC/Alliance champs in David Pavia (Sr./Stamford) in the 100 meter dash and long jump, All-America sprinter David Nicholson (Sr./Windsor) at 200 and 400 meters, and Matthew Zagura (Jr./Ellington) in the hammer throw, shot put, and discus throw. Pavia won both titles last year while Nicholson has claimed two conference titles at 200 meters and two at 400 and Zagurahas won two shot put crowns and one hammer and one discus championship. He is the defending champion in the hammer, shot and discus.
Nicholson, who missed most of the early part of the season with a pulled muscle, was the New England Divisioni III indoor 400 meter champion and went on to a sixth-place finish at the national meet.
The men’s 4x100 and 4x400 meter teams are also defending LEC/Alliance champions. The returnees from last year’s relay team are Pavia, Nicholson, and Mark Lewis (Jr./Windsor).
Additonal returning scorers from a year ago for the men are Lewis, who was fourth at 800 meters; Michael Curley (So./Branford), who was sixth at 1500 meters, Mykal Kuslis (Jr./Watertown), who was third in the 110 high hurdles, second in the 400 meter hurdles, and fifth in the long and triple
jumps, Rory Maxwell (Jr./Wallingford), who was second in the pole vault; and Brian Sheridan (So./Scotland), who was fifth in the javelin.
Among the top new men’s competitors this year is Tope Ayeni (So./Lagos, Nigeria), who was the LEC indoor 55 meter champion and a member of the all-ECAC 4x200 meter team indoor. He will be competing in the 100 and 200 meter sprints and as a member of the 4x100 meter relay.
Another outstanding newcomers is transfer Archie Joseph (So./Livingston, NJ), who was also a part of the 4x200m and 4x400m relay teams indoors . Saturday, he will be competing at 200 and 400 meters and in the javelin, as well with both relays. Tyler Banville (Fr./Rockville) will be competing in the discus and hammer and Mario Magnoli (Fr./Southington) in the javelin. Will Kopplin (So./Ledyard), who returned to the team this year after missing two seasons with injury, will be competing in all four throwing events: shot put, javelin, hammer and discus throw.
Running the 4x100 relay will be Nicholson, Pavia, Joseph and Ayeni, and joining Nicholson, Pavia and Joseph in the 4x400m relay will be Lewis. At least one Eastern relay team has won a title in seven of eight conference meets.
While looking to collect an unprecedented fifth consecutive LEC championship in as many years under head coach Frank Poulin, the Warriors have their eyes additionally upon unseating Westfield State College, which has won all eight Alliance outdoor championships. During indoor competition this past winter, Eastern won its second LEC title under Poulin and edged Westfield by nine points to capture its first Alliance crown.
The Eastern men tuned up for Saturday’s championship meet by taking third place in a 16-team field at the Connecticut College Silfen Invitational. Among six Alliance teams competing in that meet, Eastern finished ahead of Westfield (fourth place), Rhode Island College (sixth), Massachusetts Dartmouth (eighth), Worcester State College (ninth), and Bridgewater State College (11th).
Returning scorers for the women, who were fifth in last year’s LEC meet, are Allie Willets (So./Clinton), who was third last year at 5000 meters; and
Laura Tignonsini (Sr./Vernon) and Jessica Przygocki (Jr./Bristol), who were part of the 4x100 and 4x400 meter relay teams, which placed fourth.
For the women, Amy Zawistowski (Jr./Manchester) and Jessie Marshall (Jr./Yantic) are moving up in the ranks, having set personal records each week. They will be competing at 800 and 1500 meters, respectively.
Transfer Saryn Evans (Jr./Willimantic) is one of the top competitors in the LEC at 400 meters. Evans, who won that event Saturday at Conn College, will be running the 400 and 200 meters Saturday, as well as both relays; Katie La Marr (Fr./Cromwell) will be competing at 100 meters and with the 4x100 relay, as well as in the long jump and pole vault; Lauren Coonan (Jr./Malverne, NY) will look to collect points at 100 and 200 meters, as well as with both relays; Division III New England qualifier Shontel Tedeschi (Jr./Vernon) will compete in the 100 meter hurdles; Natalie Ruggiero (Fr./Wallingford) is a top javelin thrower in the LEC and will also be competing in the hammer, shot put and discus.
Running the women’s 4x100 meter relay are Evans, Przygocki, LaMarr, and Coonan. Evans, Przgocki and Coonan will be joined by Marshall in the 4x400 relay.
Heading into the weekend, 12 individuals have already qualified for the New England Division III Championships, scheduled for May 5-6. Those qualifiers for the men’s championship are Zagura in the shot, discus and hammer; Kopplin in the hammer, javelin and discus; Pavia at 100 and 200 meters; Joseph at 400 and 200 meters; Ayeni at 100 meters; Nicholson at 400 meters, Maxwell in the pole vault; Magnoli in the javelin; and Kuslis in the long jump.
Having qualified for the women’s New England meet are Evans at 400 and 200 meters; Tedeschi in the 100 meter hurdles; and Ruggiero in the javelin.
