Eastern Men Eastern Women
NEW LONDON, Conn. – Senior Fredrick Hewett (New London) won at 400 meters and senior Amy Huhn (Hebron) was fourth in the pole vault when the Eastern Connecticut State University track & field team opened its 2014 outdoor season at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Spring Invitational Saturday.
At right: Lauren Hultzman, Fredrick Hewett (inset)
Hewett outran a field of 33 in a time of 49.97, winning by .08 over Coast Guard's James Dawkins. The outdoor 400 title was the third in the three-year career of Hewett, who has claimed that event at the Eastern Invitational in both years in which he has competed.
Huhn was fourth in the pole vault with a height of 10-0 as one of four competitors to clear ten feet. Michelle McGahan of Holy Cross won with a height of 11-5 ¾. Huhn won this past year's Little East Conference and New England Alliance indoor championships with a program indoor record of 10-10 and also was last year's LEC outdoor titlist at 9-6 ¼. She shares the program outdoor record at 10-8.
The men placed sixth in a field of 12 teams with 40.5 points and the women were eighth in a 13-team field. The WPI men edged Westfield State University by 13 ½ points for the men's title and Holy Cross ran away with the women's crown, crushing runner-up Coast Guard by 174 ½ points.
In addition to Hewett (10 points), other men's competitors scoring points were senior Andrew Prince (Orange), junior Christopher Brown (Hartford), sophomore John Boisette (East Hartford), junior Luisantonio Rosado (Ponce, PR), and freshmen Jason Bindner (Milford), Jesse Petrini (Portland) and Tyler Renfro (Middletown), as well as the 4x100 relay which was fifth in a time of 44.83 to earn four points.
Prince was awarded seven points by placing fourth in the 100 (11.35) and seventh in the 200 (23.44); Brown was third in the long jump (19-6) for six points; Boisette fifth in the 100 (11.35) and Rosado fifth in the 400 hurdles for four points apiece; Bindner seventh in the high jump (5-6) and long jump (19-1 ½) for four points; Petrini eighth in the triple jump (37-10 ¾) for one point and Renfro tied for eighth in the high jump (5-6) for a half-point.
Senior Lauren Hultzman (Putnam) led the women in scoring, with Huhn, sophomore Emily Kohn (Columbia), freshman Lauren Polansky (Milford), senior Akaya McElveen (New Haven) and freshman Natalie Bowens (Montville) also picking up points. The 4x100 relay added four points with a fifth-place finish in a time of 52.96.
Hultzman totaled 5 ½ points by sharing fifth place in the high jump (4-9 ¾) and taking seventh in the javelin (95-7); Huhn netted five points in the pole vault; Kohn was sixth in the discus (102-3) and Polansky sixth in the shot (37-5) for three points each; McElveen seventh in the 400 (1:02.53) and Bowens seventh in the triple jump (33-10 ¼) for two points each.
Eastern competes in the Massachusetts Dartmouth Corsair Classic Saturday at 11 a.m
