Eastern Men's Finishers
NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Eastern Connecticut State University seniors Amy Huhn (Hebron) and Fredrick Hewett (New London) completed a double-double by following up their indoor championships in the pole vault and 400 meters, respectively, by capturing outdoor titles at the Little East Conference/New England Alliance Conference Championships at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Sunday.
After setting a program record of 10-feet-10 inches at the indoor championships in February, Huhn successfully defended her outdoor championship Sunday by besting a Little East Conference field of seven in the pole vault with a mark of 10-0. Huhn shared second place in the New England Alliance competition Sunday after placing third outdoors in the NEA competition a year ago.
Hewett won the LEC and NEA indoor 400 championships this past winter, and gained identical honors outdoors Sunday with a time of 49.65, outrunning a field of eight in the LEC and 22 in the NEA. Hewett was third in both 400 races outdoors last year and second in the LEC and third in the NEA in his first season in 2012. Hewett became the program's first conference outdoor 400 champion since 2006, when All-America David Nicholson won in a program-record time of 48.45.
Both Eastern teams were ninth in the New England Alliance Championships and fifth in the Little East Conference compilation. The Bridgewater State University men successfully defending last year's NEA title and host UMass Dartmouth claimed its second LEC men's title in three years. The University of Southern Maine women re-claimed the NEA title it had lost last year, recording their 13th championship in the past 15 years. The Huskies maintained their LEC dominance, taking their 16th straight title and 17th in the 18-year history of the championship.
The Eastern men's and women's 4x800 meter relay teams both set program records, the women winning the LEC and NEA titles in a time of 10:12.61 and the men placing second in both competitions in a time of 8:11.57. The championship was the first-ever for the women's 4x800 in the championship.
The top three individuals and first two relays were accorded All-LEC honors and the top eight and three relays earned All-NEA recognition.
At right: Displaying their medals as Little East 4x100 relay champions are (from left): Cameron Kellogg, Fredrick Hewett, D'Vonte Chambers and Dylan Kruppa. (Photo by Jason Edwards).
A total of ten women and nine men achieved either All-LEC or All-NEA status based upon their performances either in individual or relay events, combining for a total of 49.
For the women, senior Lauren Hultzman (Putnam) earned honors four times in the high jump and 100 hurdles, senior Akaya McElveen (New Haven) three times in the 400 and with the 4x800 relay, sophomore Kylie McCartney (Manchester) three times in the 1500 and with the 4x800 relay, and freshman Natalie Bowens (Montville) three times in the triple jump and long jump. Attaining honors twice were Huhn in the pole vault, sophomore Chelsey Morsey (East Hampton) with the 4x800 relay, sophomore Emily Kohn (Columbia) in the discus, freshman Lauren Polansky (Milford) in the shot put, and freshman Mariah McPhee (Bristol) with the 4x800 relay. Junior Kelly Labanara (Chaplin) earned an All-NEA honor with her finish in the 5000.
For the men, Hewett attained All-LEC or All-NEA accolades six times in the 400 and with the 4x100 and 4x800 relays, junior Dylan Kruppa (Torrington) four times with two relays, and junior Lee Cattanach (New London) in the 800 and the 4x800 relay. Two-time honorees were junior Luisantonio Rosado (Ponce, PR) with the 4x100 relay, junior Andrew Reynolds (Hartford), junior D'Vonte Chambers (West Haven) and freshman Cameron Kellogg (Waterford) with the 4x100 relay, and freshman Lawrence McGill (New Haven) with the 4x800 relay. Senior Ben Abrahams (Glastonbury) earned All-NEA recognition in the pole vault.
The men and women combined for 20 personal bests. Submitting two personal bests was Katie Akerley (Tolland) in the hammer and javelin throw.
