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South Easton, Mass. – The Reggie Lewis
Center in Boston, Mass. will be the site for the 2010 Northeast-10
Men’s and Women’s Indoor Track & Field
Championships Thursday, Feb. 18 at 4 p.m.
The Southern Connecticut State University men’s team will
look to make to eight in a row after winning the previous seven
Northeast-10 Championships. The Owls scored 166 points to secure
last year’s championship title, while Stonehill College
earned runner-up honors after collecting 129 points. On the
women’s side, the University of Massachusetts Lowell won its
first championship since 2005 after edging out Southern Connecticut
by 22 points (181-159).
On the men’s side individually a number of athletes will
compete to defend their titles from a year ago. Southern
Connecticut sophomore Selasi Lumax (Somerset,
N.J.) will look to defend his title in the 500-meter
run after recording a time of 1:06.66 last year. Lumax ran the
event in a conference-best of 1:03.17 this season at the Yale
Giegengack Invitational. University of New Haven
sophomoreKevin Downing (Meriden, Conn.),
last year’s Northeast-10 Freshman of the Year, will look to
repeat as the 200-meter and 55-meter dash champion.
Southern Connecticut senior Ryan Whitehead (Darien,
Conn.) broke the NE-10 championship record in the
pole vault event with a vault of 16’ 6.00”. He holds
the top vault this season with an automatic NCAA qualifying height
of 16’ 6.75”. American International junior
Alex Joseph (New Britain, Conn.) finished
first in the long jump at last year’s championship (22’
5.75) and will compete in this year’s event.
On the women’s side, New Haven junior Shannon
Gagne (Meriden, Conn.) will compete and look to
continue last year’s success. Gagne was the only athlete to
win three individual events in last year’s championship
including the 55-meter, 200-meter and long jump. She holds the top
times/distance in all three events this season in the Northeast-10
and has either automatically or provisionally qualified for the
NCAA Championship in all three events.
Senior Haley Catarius (Marshfield,
Mass.) from the University of Massachusetts will look
to defend her title in the 500-meter run after taking top honors
and breaking the Northeast-10 Championship record last year. She
earned Most Valuable Athlete honors at last year’s
championship. American International’s Bidemi
Balogun (Providence, R.I.) took top honors in last
year’s weight throw event with a distance of 51’
7.25”. Balogun, last year’s NE-10 Freshman of the Year,
recorded the top distance in the Northeast-10 this year with an
NCAA automatic qualifying distance of 59’ 9.50”.
The Northeast-10 Championship is open to the public and tickets
will be sold at the Reggie Lewis Center’s ticket booth the
day of the event. Ticket prices are $5 for adults and $3 for
Students/Senior Citizens.
The Reggie Lewis Center seats 3,500 and contains a
state-of-the-art 200-meter Mondo Super X track, an 8-lane 55-meter
dash runway, and provisions for high jump, long/triple jump and
pole vault. It has also been the site for a number of track &
field collegiate events, including the NCAA Division II Indoor
Track & Field Championships.
With 16 member institutions the Northeast-10 shares the
distinction of being the largest Division II conference in the
country along with the PSAC and WVIAC. 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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