BOSTON, Mass. – Adelphi's Isabel Marsh and Franklin Pierce's Stephen Harris broke the NE10 Championship records in the women's 800m and men's 200m respectively, but it was the Southern Connecticut State Owls men's and women's squads that walked out of the TRACK at new balance with the NE10 Championship first day lead Friday.
Southern Connecticut State won gold in five of the 11 scored events on day one of competition, most notably sweeping the women's 5K podium behind Courtney Henchcliffe's 18:23.78 personal-best time. The Owls also captured the men's pole vault (Dylan Torok), men's weight throw (Adelino Daveiga), women's long jump (Kisha Francois), and women's pole vault (Maddie Hathorne).
The Owls posted 81 points on the women's side, staking a 36-point lead over second place SNHU. With 62 points, the SCSU men's squad leads by 15 over New Haven.
Hathorne and Francois produced the most dramatic performances for the Owls. Hathorne grabbed her NE10 title, and third career medal, by winning a jump-off with Franklin Pierce's defending NE10 champion Lizzy Jones. The league's defending long jump champion, Francois repeated with a 5.65m mark, but put the pressure on after faulting on her first two jumps.
All told, SCSU put a student-athlete on the podium in all but one of Friday's scored events. The complete list of Friday's champions is listed below.
Francois' successful title defense was one of only two on Friday, joined by the Adelphi women's distance medley relay, which beat out Southern Connecticut for gold with a 12:27.17 time. Adelphi's Khalil Chester came 0.1m short of repeating his long jump crown but succumbed to New Haven's Kenneth Holland on the Chargers' final jump.
When it comes to new Championship records, Marsh accomplished her feat first, snapping a mark established by Bentley's Amy Varsell in 2012 with a 2:10.8 time in the 800m prelims. Marsh went 1-2 with her twin sister Katherine. The final will run Saturday. Harris followed that performance by running 21.28 in the 200m, 0.02 seconds faster than the NE10 standard set in 2011 by UMass Lowell's Evan White.
Action in Boston resumes Saturday morning with the men's multis. Full coverage can be found at Championship Central with the action livestreamed on NE10NOW.tv.
Men's Champions
5K: Wondu Summa, Franklion Pierce
Pole Vault: Dylan Torok, Southern Connecticut State
Long Jump: Kenneth Holland, New Haven
Weight Throw: Adelino Daveiga, Southern Connecticut
DMR: Southern Connecticut State
Women's Champions
5K: Courtney Henchcliffe, Southern Connecticut State
Pole Vault: Maddie Hathorn, Southern Connecticut State
Long Jump: Kisha Francois, Southern Connecticut State
Weight Throw: Laila Bunnitt, Southern New Hampshire
DMR: Adelphi
Pentathlon: Briahna Bouchard, Franklin Pierce
ABOUT THE NE10
The NE10 is an association of 12 diverse institutions serving student-athletes across 24 NCAA Division II sports. Together we build brilliant futures by embracing the journey of every student-athlete.
Each year, 4,500 of those student-athletes compete in conference championships in 24 sports, making the NE10 the largest DII conference in the country in terms of sport sponsorship. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the NE10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.
