The Massachusetts men’s and women’s track and field teams featured standout performances and championship qualifiers in the highly competitive Valentine Invitational at Boston University over the weekend.
Both the men and women’s teams raised their level of play in front of competition from schools such as Johns Hopkins, George Mason and Dartmouth. The men’s squad produced an astounding 21 qualifiers in the meet, which is its best showing of the season.
“I think it’s a combination of later development of the team, approaching a nice facility and the people being excited about registering good performances,” men’s coach Ken O’Brien said, who felt the tremendous facilities and competition brought out the best in his team.
Rising to the occasion was senior Kevin Spieler in the weight throw. The Attleboro, Mass. native continued his standout 2011 campaign, heaving 46-06.00, earning him a 14th-place finish and a bid to the IC4A Championships.
“Kevin’s one of those athletes on our team who is…a pretty accurate reflection of…the majority of the athletes on our team,” O’Brien said. He later went on to cite Spieler’s great work ethic and love for track as contributing factors to his success and an excellent role model for the underclassmen.
The women’s unit was led by the continued rise of Nalis Mbianda in the shot put, finishing second on Friday. The sophomore qualified for the ECAC Championships after displaying her second-best mark at UMass with a throw of 44-11.50.
“Mbianda’s performance…is just scratching the surface of her potential,” women’s coach Julie LaFreniere said. “I see a very bright future for Nalis in the throws.”
The Newton, Mass. native is riding a hot streak into next weekend’s Atlantic 10 Championships, finishing second, third and first in her last three meets. LaFreniere credits assistant coach Darcy Wilson for Mbianda’s success, calling Wilson “one of the top throwing coaches on the East Coast.”
Zachary Koncki had a day to remember for the men’s side in the long jump. The sophomore sprung his personal-best distance of 23-7.75, which is also the team’s top showing in the event this season. Koncki’s efforts qualified him for the IC4As and earned him a first-place showing on Saturday.
Tyler Cotto was stellar once again, finishing second in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.06 seconds. Meanwhile Patrick McGowan and Daniel Barry qualified for the New England Championships and IC4A’s in the 3,000-meter run with times of 8:25.24 and 8:25.56, respectively.
Gina Perno solidified her spot in the UMass record books in the 800-meter run with her second-place time of 2:12.62. The senior’s finish was the second-fastest finish all-time in UMass’ history.
“Gina trains and competes with passion and is very gutsy,” LaFreniere said. She later went on to add that Perno’s teammates feed off her attitude, as they “share her passion for success and challenge her in practices.”
Sean Busch placed third in the pole vault with a height of 15 feet, following up his selection as last week’s UMass Athlete of the Week. Freshman Quinn Ryder carried on his strong rookie season with a sixth-place finish in the 60-meter dash, posting a time of 7.03 seconds.
The women’s team produced four NEC qualifiers in the 500-meters. Michelle Jenssen (1:16.15), Deanna Julian (1:16.62), Erika Unger (1:17.46) and Sarah Bitterman (1:17.49) each crossed the finish line in the top 11 spots in an event stacked with 56 competitors.
Up next for both the men and women’s units is the A-10 championships in North Kingston, R.I., which is a two-day event starting Friday morning and concluding Saturday.
“This could be one of the most difficult conference meets within the past years,” said O’Brien, who believes the men’s field of competition has more depth than ever before.
“They will need to compete at their highest level,” LaFreniere said about her team. “Anything can happen in the heat of competition and we expect to take advantage of our talent.”
Stephen Sellner can be reached at [email protected].
