MANSFIELD, Conn. -- The Eastern Connecticut State University men's and women's outdoor track & field teams tuned up for next Saturday's Little East Conference Championships at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth by capturing their own invitational titles Friday at the Mansfield Outdoor Complex.

The women came from behind to edge Bridgewater State University, 182-178 in an eight-team field in what proved to be a two-team chase for the title. The men used their depth to roll up a 48-point win over runner-up Nichols College in a nine-team field. The Warriors totalled 186 points, the Bison 138. Bridgewater State also cracked the 100-point barrier, totalling 119, with Massachusetts Maritime Academy well back in third place with 44 points.

The men are the defending LEC outdoor champion, having annexed their first title in 14 years last spring at UMass Dartmouth. The women gave 21-time LEC champion University of Southern Maine a run before finishing second for the second time in three years.

Following the meet, the program honored its eight outgoing seniors, as well as head coach Kathy Manizza, who will retired next month. The seniors were Lexi Burgess (Salem), Manar Enany (Fairfield), Maggie Santacroce (Bristol), Ryan Escoda (Newtown), Tyler Lindquist (Worcester, MA), Kyle Smith (Manchester), Jorich Swift (Mansfield) and Tyler Wright (Westport).

  Sophomore Kaito Yasuda (100m and 200m), junior Cory Bill (400m), first-year Adam Schimmelpfennig (110m hurdles, 400m hurdles), junior Collin Wiltshire (triple jump)
Men's Relay Winners:
4x100m, 4x400m
Near-Misses (Second place)
Senior Tyler Lindquist (400m), senior Ryan Escoda (800m), sophomore Aidan Hennessy (110m hurdles, high jump, triple jump), Jacob Boutote (400m hurdles), senior Kyle Smith (pole vault)
Notable:
Wiltshire broke the facility record of 46-10 3/4 in the triple jump with his winning mark of 47-0 3/4, which is tops in the LEC this year
Lindquist qualified for the New England Championships with a third-place time of 50.38 in the 400m
First-year runner Eric Phongsa missed by a hair of qualifying for the New England Championships in the 100 and 200. He finished third in both with respective times of 11.24 and 22.76. He needed 11.20 and 22.70, respectively
Yasuda's time of 22.32 in the 200 is the third-best in the LEC this year
Schimmelpfennig's time of 56.69 in the 400 hurdles is second-best in the LEC this year
Shawn Tobin of Nichols broke Eastern All-America Lee Cattanach's facility record of 9:27.73 in the 3000m with a winning time of 9:21.08

Women's Individual Winners:
First-year Alison LeClerc (800m), first-year sophomore Carly Alston (1500m), senior Maggie Santacroce (3000m), junior Mackenzie Dunn (long jump), senior Manar Enany (hammer), sophomore Shannon Burby (javelin), sophomore Alyssa Sirianni (400m hurdles)
Women's Relay Winners:
4x100m, 4x400m (running unopposed)
Near-Misses (Second place)
Sirianni (100m hurdles), Enany (triple jump), sophomore Katherine Platt (discus)
Notable:
Dunn qualified for the New England Championships in the long jump with her winning mark of 17-6 and Enany qualified in the triple jump with her second-place mark of 35-4, which was 1.25 inches shy of first place
Enany's mark in the triple jump is the best in the LEC this year
Santacroce's winning time of 11:19.67 in the 3000 leads the LEC this spring
LeClerc ran the third-fastest 800 (2:29.32) in the LEC this year, less than half-a-second shy of second place