Eastern's Finishers
BOSTON -- Senior Fred Hewett (New London) placed 32nd in a field of 196 runners at 400 meters and the Eastern Connecticut State University men's track & field team established 12 personal bests Saturday at the 2014 David Hemery Valentine Classic Friday at the Boston University Track and Tennis Center.
At right: John Boisette
Hewett won his section a time of 49.41 – his second-best time ever and a time which ranks him 33rd in Division III this year and qualifies him for the New England and ECAC Division III Championships.
Hewett also ran a leg of the 4x400 relay which placed 23rd in a field of 54 with a season-best time of 3:23.35 which qualified for the New England and ECAC Division III Championships and was just two seconds off the nine-year-old program record. Joining Hewett on the relay were juniors Dylan Kruppa (Torrington), D'Vonte Chambers (West Haven) and Luisantonio Rosado (Ponce, PR).
Sophomore John Boisette (East Hartford) set personal bests in the 400 (53.08) and 200 (22.63), qualifying for the New England Division III Championships in the latter event, winning his section and posting a 63rd-place finish in a field of 234. Boisette also won his section in the preliminaries of the 60.
In addition to running the relay, Rosado set a PR of 1:08.07 in the 500, where he won his section and placed 54th among 79. Kruppa ran the second-fastest 500 of his career, clocking a 1:06.96 which had him in 43rd place in a field of 79 and had him qualify for the New England Division III Championships at 600 meters.
Also setting personal bests were junior Andre Reynolds (Hartford), sophomores Taylor Flynn (Old Saybrook) and Steven LaFlamme (Moosup) and freshmen Cameron Kellogg (Waterbury), Jordan Branco (New Milford), Dan Manzi (Coventry), Joe Rainville (Montville), and Mike Underwood (Farmington).
Reynolds' PR came in the 200 (23.52), Flynn (4:41.40) and LaFlamme (4:55.31) in the mile, Kellogg in the 60 (7.48) and 200 (23.94), Rainville (2:04.71), Branco (2:04.77) and Underwood (2:07.52) in the 800 and Manzi in the 400 (54.24).
Twenty Eastern athletes competed in the meet, which attracted individuals from Division I, II and III institutions from the east coast, along with a number of national-caliber unattached performers.
Eastern competes in the Little East Conference/New England Alliance Championships Saturday at noon at the Univerisity of Southern Maine's Costello Athletic Complex.
