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South Easton, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts Lowell
junior track athlete Doug Caves (Oxford,
Mass.) and Bentley University senior
Melissa Nash (Marshfield, Mass.) were
named the 2009 Northeast-10 Outdoor Track & Field Athletes of
the Year as voted by the conference’s head coaches. In
addition, American International College freshmen
Dominic Smith (Bloomfield, Conn.) and
Bidemi Balogun (Providence R.I.) were
selected the 2009 Freshmen of the Year.
Coach of the Year accolades went out to Southern Connecticut State
University’s Jack Maloney as the
Men’s Outdoor Track & Field Coach of the Year, while
UMass Lowell’s Gary Gardner was
honored as the Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Coach of the
Year.
Caves took first-place in the 400-meter dash at the Northeast-10
Outdoor Track & Field Championships with a time of 46.91. He
currently holds the sixth best time in the 400-meters with a time
of 46.77. He is also part of the UMass Lowell 4x400 relay team that
has a season-best time of 3:12.54. Caves will make his fifth career
appearance at the NCAA Championships later this month in San
Angelo, Texas.
Nash took home a third place finish in the 1,500-meters at the
NE-10 Outdoor Championships finishing with a time of 4:48.45; just
a second off of her personal best of 4:47.50 in the event. Nash has
provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships in the
5,000-meter run after recording a time of 17:33 at the Raleigh
Relays. She is a four-time NCAA qualifier.
Smith had a record breaking performance at this year’s
Northeast-10 Outdoor Championship breaking the school record in the
200-meter dash and 400-meter dash. Smith took home a first place
finish in the 200-meters with a time of 22.06 and finished third in
the 400-meters, breaking his own school-record with a time of
48.17. During the course of the season, he broke the school record
in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.21 and was part of the
school record relay teams in the 4x100 (42.63 – 10.82 split)
and the 4x400 (3:22.72 – 47.95 split).
Balogun, in her first year competing at the collegiate level,
continues to add post-season hardware to her resume. During the
indoor season, Balogun was named the NE-10 Freshman of the Year.
Her top performances during the outdoor season includes the school
record in the hammer throw with a throw of 159 feet and two inches
at the Holy Cross Invitational taking first place accolades. She
finished second in the hammer throw at the NE-10 Outdoor
Championships with a throw of 152 feet and two inches. Balogun also
recorded a personal best in the discus this season with a distance
of 102 feet and three inches.
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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