Ryan Escoda became the first Eastern male and only the second Eastern athlete to win the 3,000 meter steeplechase at the Little East Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships, in the process qualifying for the New England Open later this month. Escoda collected 22 points in three events by placing third in the 800 and 1500 to go along with his 3000 steeplechase title and also ran the anchor of the winning 4x800 relay which netted the team ten additional points.
Championship is seventh for program since 2002
CORY BILL
DARTMOUTH, Mass – Since winning the last of its six straight championships in 2007, Eastern Connecticut State University has not been central to the conversation regarding contending teams for the Little East Conference Men's Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
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All that changed Sunday.
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Getting points from 22 individuals on its 24-man roster -- and cleaning up in two distance events, both hurdles and the triple jump -- the Warriors unseated five-time defending champion University of Southern Maine, 178-156, to win in an eight-team field at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
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Since 2008, Eastern had managed to finish as high as third only once, that coming in 2019 – the most recent championship conducted (due to Covid cancelling in 2020). Based upon the results of the Eastern Invitational nine days ago – when Eastern lost by one point to Southern Maine and routed Rhode Island College and Keene State College, the Warriors were certain that they could – and many on the team felt should – challenge for this year's title.
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Southern Maine, a winner of nine of 12 titles since Eastern's last championship, and the team titlist in ten of the 22 championships contested since 1998, captured firsts in seven of the 22 events Sunday, but Eastern's depth overcame the Huskies's bid for a sixth straight crown.
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Junior captain Ryan Escoda (Newtown), sophomore Cory Bill (Mansfield), freshman Aidan Hennessy (Granby) and the 4x800 relay all claimed firsts, but it was Eastern's depth and dominance in several events which allowed it to outscore USM in nine events.
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In the 110 and 400 hurdles, Eastern had a combined +22 scoring advantage over USM, a +19 advantage in the triple jump, +11 in the 3000 steeplechase and +11 in the 5000. This more than offset USM's traditional dominance in the pole vault, where the Huskies took the top four places in totaling 28 points while Eastern did not have an entry.
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The outstanding track performer in the meet, Escoda contributed 22 points in three individual events before coming from six seconds and more than 100 meters back to anchor the winning 4x800 relay in a five-second win over USM in the second-to-last event of the day.s
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Escoda became the first Eastern male and second Eastern athlete to win the 3000 steeplechase (10:11.71) and was third in the 800 (1:59.14) and 1500 (4:05.03), qualifying later this month for the New England Open in the steeplechase.
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CONOR HENNESSY
Escoda's nine second win over Keene State College's Robert St. Laurent in the steeple was a springboard to Eastern's +11 point advantage over USM in that event. Â Maxwell Chace (Brooklyn), a team captain and one of four seniors who closed out their careers with the title, contributed six points with a third-place finish (10:25.94), with junior Kyle Smith (Manchester) sixth (11:08.76). USM runners managed six points in the event, with Chace edging USM sophomore Cody Mathewson by .01 at the finish.
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Eleven freshmen chipped in points, not the least of which were twins Aidan and Conor Hennessy (Granby), who combined for 36 points in the hurdles, high jump and triple jump. The pair helped the Warriors outscore USM 20-1 in the triple jump. Despite limited practice time leading up to the meet, Aidan (22 total points) became the first Eastern male to win the event in 19 years with a mark of 42-6 ¼ (12.96m), with Conor (14 total points) third (42-0.75/12.82m) and classmate Justin Costick (Norwich) fourth (41-11.50/12.79m).
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Aidan also led a 15-2 scoring onslaught against USM with a second-place finish in the 110 hurdles (16.94), with freshman Jacob Boutote (Bristol) third (18.50) and senior captain Justin Gomez-Stafford (New Haven) sixth (20.25).
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In the high jump, USM grabbed eight points with a second-place finish, but the Warriors countered by getting 12 points from three freshmen: Costick was third (6-0.75/1.85m), Aidan fourth (6-0.75/1.85m) (on jumps) and Ethan Lambert (Burrillville, RI) fifth (5-7/1.70m).
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Conor Hennessy gave Eastern a small edge over USM in the long jump, collecting six points with a third-place finish (20-7/6.27m) to edge freshman Coby Andersen of USM, who was fourth. Conor also submitted half of Eastern's four points in the four throwing events by placing fifth in the javelin (144-3/43.96) while USM was shut out.
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Competing in his first LEC outdoor championship, sophomore Cory Bill (Mansfield) was Eastern's fourth winner, and contributed 18 points in all in two events and also ran a leg of the 4x100 and 4x400 relays which were second by less than a second and by less than three seconds,respectively, to USM. Bill won the 400 (50.70) and was second in the 200 (23.34), giving Eastern its first individual winner in the later event since 2011.
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Sophomore Jorich Swift (Mansfield) provided the team with 12 points in two distance events. He headed Eastern's +11 point advantage over USM in the 5000 with a time of 16:54 that netted him second place, with freshmen Jake Haddad (Vernon) placing third (17:03) and Thomas Engle (Plainfield) sixth (21:05). With a fourth-place finish (35:38) Swift also collected Eastern's only points in the 10,000, where USM got a total of ten from two participants.
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Bill in the 200 and 400, Aidan Hennessy in the 110 hurdles and triple jump, Escoda in the steeplechase and Swift in the 5000 Â were all accorded All-LEC honors on the basis of their top-two finish, with Bill, Escoda, Chace, senior Cameron Gonzales (Plainfield), juniors Tyler Wright (Westport) and Tyler Lindquist (Worcester, MA), and freshmen Thomas Stone (Glastonbury), Jadyn Nogueira (Glastonbury), Carlos Aurora (Hartford) and Kaito Yasuda earning identical honors as part of the relays.
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Senior captain Ryder Fitch (Canterbury), seeded fourth in the javelin, ended his career by tearing the ACL in his left knee on his first attempt in that event and was lost for the competition.
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In essence, it was a three-horse race between Eastern, USM and host UMass Dartmouth. A winner of two championships within the last eight years, UMD was third (109), with Plymouth State University (61), Keene State (52), RIC (39), Castleton University (29) and UMass Boston (16) all well back in the final point total.
FINAL TEAM SCORES
1 EASTERN CONNECTICUT STATE U. 178
2 U. of Southern Maine 156
3 UMass Dartmouth 109
4 Plymouth State U. 61
5 Keene State College 52
6 Rhode Island College 39
7 Castleton U. 29
8 UMass Boston 16
EASTERN'S ALL-CONFERENCE PERFORMERS
(Event winner is first team, second place is second team)
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