The Stony Brook Track & Field team traveled to Boston University this weekend to compete in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) and Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America (IC4A) regional indoor track and field championships, where seven athletes scored points for the Seawolves. Among the runners was senior Mitchell Kun, who placed fourth with a career-best 14:31.00 in the 5000-meters event.
Kun, a Brooklyn native, saw a sizable improvement over his 7th-place finish in the America East Championships two weeks ago. In that race, Kun had a time of 14:49.81, while the winner, All-American UMBC senior Hassan Omar, ran at 14:33.97.
Despite Kun’s performance, Saturday was bleak for the Seawolves. Seniors Bradley Amazan and Alex Lopresti failed to place in the men’s 1000-meters, leaving them out of Sunday’s final.
As a team, Stony Brook performed better on Sunday, as the women’s distance medley relay (DMR) team and sophomore Michael Watts had impressive performances to close out the championships. Watts placed eighth in the 3000-meters with a time of 8:16.35.
The distance medley relay was the Seawolves’ best scoring finish at the meet. Sophomore Jane Clark, freshman Lauren Wangenstein, junior Christine Eisenberg and senior Kate Pouder were the four that competed on the relay in the final race of the indoor season. Clark recorded a 3:35.77 time in the 1200-meter portion of the race, Wangenstein had a 58.38 time in the 400-meter leg, Eisenberg clocked in at 2:13.92 in the 800-meter leg and Pouder boasted an impressive 4:54.12 time for the mile.
Other highlights of the competition included the mile run by James Randon of Yale University and the 400-meter dash time of Albany’s Grace Claxton. Randon set a new record at 3:58.85, beating the previous mark of 4:00.06 by Georgetown’s Mike Stahr in 1988. Claxton earned her title of ECAC Performer of the Meet for her 52.89 time, surpassing a record that was held by Lori McCauley since 1983.
Despite the career-highs and impressive numbers, Stony Brook as a whole fell short in the ECAC/IC4A championships. Hampton University won the men’s title, scoring a 66 through 20 events with first place finishes in both the 200m dash and 800m event. Hampton also saw its senior tandem of Trey Halloway and Ramoye Simon finish in first and second, respectively, in the 60m hurdles. UConn won its third consecutive women’s title with a winning effort in the 200m dash and the 4x800m relay.
The indoor season is not over yet for the Seawolves, as junior Christina Melian will be in action next weekend at the NCAA Championships in Birmingham, Alabama where she will compete in the women’s 5000-meter run. Melian is trying to add to her America East Championship victory in the 3000-meter event, which she won in a time of 9:43.16. The championships are set to begin at 4 p.m. on Friday, March 11.
FEATURED IMAGE COURTESY OF STONY BROOK ATHLETICS
