May 27, 2006
Handy Sixth in 400 Hurdles, Completes All-America Sweep
EMPORIA, KS (May 27, 2006) – Senior Patrick Morasse (Lowell, MA) and junior Nicole Plante (North Adams, MA) earned All-American honors for the second time in as many days to lead UMass Lowell on the final day of the NCAA Division II Track and Field Championships Saturday at Emporia State University.
The UML women, with only five athletes competing in six events, placed a best-ever fifth in the team standings with 28 points. Adams State (CO) won the team title with 71 points while Lincoln (TN) University placed second with 70 points. Abilene Christian (TX) and Grand Valley State (MI) placed third and fourth with 68 and 42 points, respectively.
"I never even imagined we could finish fifth," said UML head coach Gary Gardner. "I never could have added the points that we came up with this week. All of our kids just competed unbelievably. It was the best all-around meet we've ever had."
All five UML women earned All-American honors, led Saturday by Plante and senior Julie Handy (Yorba Linda, CA). On Friday, UML was buoyed by senior Enjoli Edwards (Philadelphia, PA), who took second in the shot put, and Toni-Marie Henry (Springfield, MA), who placed second in the triple jump.
Senior Esia Johnson (Lawrence, MA) placed sixth in the long jump Thursday to earn All-America status for the second time this year. She also earned the honor in the indoor season, placing third.
Morasse gave perhaps the best performance on Saturday as he earned All-American honors in both the 1,500 and 800 meters, running the races just 59 minutes apart.
Seeded fifth in the 1,500, Morasse placed third with a time of 4:02.39, just 1.12 seconds off the winner, Przemek Bobrowski (4:01.27) of Harding. On Thursday, Morasse placed fourth in the 1,500 meter preliminary (3:56.91).
"There were about 3-4 kids in the race who were as good as Pat, so we wanted him just to keep himself in the race in the beginning," Gardner said. "He got boxed in at the end and couldn't quite catch up in the straightaway."
Morasse was seeded 11th in the 800 meters and placed fourth with a time of 1:55.90, in a race in which just 0.96 seconds separated places one through five. Nick Lara of Adams State won the 800 meters title in 1:55.46. In the 800 preliminary Friday, Morasse placed sixth in 1:54.88.
"In the 800, Pat sat in last for the first 400 meters, but over the last 300 meters he made his move and finished fourth," Gardner noted. "It was his fourth race in two days. It was about as good a double as I've ever
seen in Division II, especially with such a short rest."
Morasse was the sole athlete to run both the 1,500 and 800 meters.
Plante earned All-American honors for the second time in three days as she placed fifth in the 5,000 meters in 17:56.33. On Thursday, Plante took third in the 10,000 meters in 36.19.13.
Mandy Zemba of Grand Valley State placed first in 17:10.69.
"The race was slow over the first mile," Gardner said. "But Nicole kicked pretty well over the last quarter mile. She ran 20 kilometers over the last three days, and that's a lot of time on a track."
Handy, who took eighth in the 400 meter hurdles preliminary Thursday, placed sixth in the championship Saturday with a time of 61.08 seconds to become the fifth UML athlete to receive All-American honors. The honor was the first-ever in track and field for Handy, who was named an honorable mention All-American in volleyball last fall.
"Julie started in lane eight, which is a disadvantage," Gardner noted. "But she got out real good over the first 200 meters, sort of struggled in the next 300, but finished strong. She was the last seed, so any points we got from her were big."
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