South Easton, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts Lowell
senior track athlete Ruben Sanca (Boston,
Mass.) and Southern Connecticut State University
junior Letecia Taylor (Plainfield, N.J.)
were named the 2008-2009 Northeast-10 Indoor Track & Field
Athletes of the Year in a vote by the conference’s eight head
coaches. In addition, American International College’s
Bidemi Balogun (Providence, R.I.) and the
University of New Haven’s Kevin Downing (Meriden,
Conn.) were selected the 2008-2009 Freshmen of the
Year.
Coach of the Year accolades went out to Southern
Connecticut’s Jack Maloney as the Men’s Track &
Field Coach of the Year, while UMass Lowell’s Gary Gardner
was honored as the Women’s Indoor Track & Field Coach of
the Year.
Sanca, the 2008 NE-10 Cross Country Athlete of the Year, added
another piece of hardware to his trophy case as he was named the
men’s athlete of the year in track & field. He currently
stands atop the national rankings in the 5000-meters and has also
posted NCAA qualifying marks as a member of the UMass
Lowell’s Distance Medley Relay team. Sanca also ran the mile
in 4:07.37 which is the fourth fastest time in the country earlier
this month.
Taylor set a new Northeast-10 Indoor Track & Field
Championship record in the 55-hurdles with a time of 8.06 which
currently ranks her in the top seven among the NCAA Division
rankings. She was also part of the Southern Connecticut’s
4x400 relay team that place second. Taylor has also broke the
school record in the 60-meter high hurdles with a time of 8.80
earlier this season.
Balogun, in her first year competing at the collegiate level, has
a season-best and a school-record throw in the weight throw of
52’4.50”, which is .04 away from qualifying
provisionally for nationals. She finished first in the event at the
Northeast-10 Championships with a winning throw of
51’07.25”.
Downing put together quite the resume in his first year of
collegiate action. Top performances this season include in the
200-meter dash a time of 21.66, which is currently the best time in
New England and 12th nationally among the Division II leaders. He
has also run the 60-meter dash in a time of 6.96, which ranks him
in the top 15 in New England. Downing claimed the 200-meter dash in
this year’s NE-10 Championship with a time of 21.99 and was
third in the 400-meters.
With 15 member institutions the Northeast-10 is the second largest
NCAA Division II athletic conference in the nation. Its 23
championship sports provide athletic opportunities for over 5,500
student-athletes, the largest such program of any Division II
conference.
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