Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

NE Championships wrap up outdoor season

The Massachusetts men’s and women’s track and field teams finished the 2007 outdoor season this past weekend at the New England Championships, hosted by Dartmouth College. The men placed 11th, while the women finished in 31st.

The Minutemen entered this meet hoping for a better outcome after a disappointing eighth place in the Atlantic 10 Championships. The men placed 11th out of 37 teams while competing in a variety of events.

The men’s relay teams had high expectations and managed to keep their reputation alive this weekend. The 4×800 meter relay team of freshman Ryan Diorio, sophomore Peter Fortunato and juniors Ryan Durkin and Kevin Murphy finished second with a time of 7 minutes, 38.40 seconds. The 4×400 meter relay team of Nathan Barksdale, fifth-year senior James Godihno, senior Manny Harris-Lopes and Andrew O’Donnell finished in 3:17.05, placing third. The 4×100 meter relay team finished eighth in 42.74 seconds. The team consisted of freshmen Andrew O’Donnell, Ian Hackney and Brian Miller, as well as junior Nathan Barksdale.

In the 5,000 meters, freshman Jonathan Pierce placed fifth with a time of 14:56.64. Junior Nils Fischer placed 11th in 15:12.44, while freshman Andrew McCann finished close behind at 15:15.72, placing 13th. Freshman Andrew Mulvaney finished in 17th and Daniel Barry was right behind in 18th.

Sophomore Jesse Regnier had a seasonal best performance in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and placed fourth with a time of 9:16.61. Freshman Sonny Gamble also competed in the 3000 meter steeplechase and placed 14th with a time of 9:33.45. Tyler Cotto competed in the 110-meter hurdle preliminaries and finished 10th with a time of 15.39 seconds. Miller placed 13th in the high jump with a height of 6 feet, 1.25 inches.

The Minutewomen placed 31 out of 34 teams at the New England Championships. The Maroon and White went into the meet not having as many competing athletes as the men’s team and were also missing distance runner Christina DeRosa.

Mary Serdakowski, a graduate student, placed seventh in the 100-meter hurdle finals with a time of 14.91 seconds. Serdakowski also competed in the 400-meter hurdle preliminaries where she finished 14th in 1:05.60.

Freshmen Brittany Bakanowski and Alexandra Haller also competed in the 400-meter hurdles. Bakanowski had a seasonal-best time of 1:06.19 and placed 20th. Haller finished a couple of seconds behind at 1:10.12, good enough for 29th place.

The 4×800 meter relay team also competed at the New England Championships. The team finished 14th with a time of 9:46.25. The team consisted of juniors Jennifer Curtain, Britt Canfield and Ashley Davidson, as well as freshman Nicole Serapiglia.

The Minutewomen were without distance star Christina DeRosa, who was the only UMass athlete to compete in the ECAC Championships that were also held last weekend at Princeton University.

DeRosa traveled to the competition for the first time in her career. She placed fifth last Friday in the 10,000 meters. DeRosa ran the event in a time of 36:28.04, the second fastest time of her career. DeRosa competed in the Championships after earning first place at the Atlantic 10 Championships last week.

Melissa Turtinen can be reached at [email protected].

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