Track & Field

By MIKE BOGEN, The Republican


There is more to March than madness.

For some, March means honors well-earned for games well-played the previous several months, and for others, it means opportunity, the chance to cap a fine season with championship performances.

This weekend, for instance, is the biggest of the season for those competing in indoor track and field with each of the three NCAA divisions gathering at sites throughout the country.


American International College freshman Bidemi Balogun will make her debut on the national stage at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships starting Friday at an event of staggering proportions.

The track and field nationals are part of the Division II Winter National Championships Festival at University of Houston, where more than 800 student-athletes will gather to compete for titles in men's and women's swimming and diving, men's and women's track and field and men's wrestling

Balogun, who is the first AIC athlete to qualify for either the NCAA indoor or outdoor nationals, will compete in the weight throw. The freshman from Providence, R.I., a four-time Northeast-10 Freshman of the Week, had a qualifying throw of 16.86 meters, the 14th best of 14 qualifiers and three feet less than No. 1 seed Tara Cooper of Ashland (19.97m).

But, just her presence - from the northeast, only a handful of Southern Connecticut women and a relay team from UMass Lowell joined her at - is an accomplishment.