By Adam Riglian
The men’s track ‘ field team returned to form at last weekend’s New England Championships after a sub-par performance at the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup Feb. 8 and 9, running with the kind of fervor head coach Sherman Hart has been looking for.
“We really competed with passion,” Hart said. “I was very pleased with our performance. This is what I was looking for. I was looking for them to step up and go after things. They really got after it, worked hard for two weeks and did well in this meet.”
The Huskies scored 57 points in the meet, good for fourth place behind University of Connecticut, University of Rhode Island and Southern Connecticut State.
Conrad Dalton took home a first-place finish in the 500-meter with a 1:02.99, only .15 seconds behind the Northeastern record set by Bryan McCants during the 2000-01 season.
“It seems like he’s really running well, really coming on. His speed and strength are back to where they were,” Hart said of Dalton, who has suffered nagging injuries throughout the season.
Sophomore Nate Hunter won his first New England title in the shot put, making it back-to-back championships for Northeastern in the event, which Derek Anderson won last year.
Hunter trailed Andrew Dubs of UConn going into his last throw, but managed to overtake him with a put of 55 feet, 4 and one-quarter inches.
Senior captain Christian Tirella picked up a fifth-place finish in the 400-meter, running his fastest time of the year, 48.76.
Freshman Jonathan Hall scored in the 500-meter with a fourth-place finish (1:04.25) and freshman Jordan Thull took second in the vault with a 16 foot, 2 and one-half inch.
The team is now bound for the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America (IC4A) championships March 3 and 4.
Eleven Northeastern men’s athletes have qualified for IC4As, the “most we’ve had in years,” Hart said.
This meet wraps up the indoor season for the bulk of the team, with a few athletes still looking to qualify for nationals. The outdoor season begins March 17 at the Hurricane Invitational in Miami.
“The team is starting to come around and I am really excited about doing some damage in the CAA,” Hart said. “If we can stay healthy, we’ll do some damage.”
