Little East Conference champions (from left): Ryan Escoda (3000m), Collin Wiltshire
(triple jump) and Ashley Gentile (600m). (Photo courtesy of the Little East Conference)
PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Senior
Ryan Escoda (Newtown) won his first indoor individual championship after twice winning the 3000 meter steeplechase outdoors and senior
Collin Wiltshire (Ledyard) became the first Eastern Connecticut State University athlete to win consecutive triple jump championships at the 24
th Annual Little East Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships Saturday at Plymouth State University's Bank of New Hampshire Field House at ALLWell North.
Escoda picked up ten points by winning at 3000 meters by three seconds over UMass Dartmouth senior Steve Stromski with a time of 8:52.78 and Wiltshire combined with three teammates to garner 20 points in the triple jump by defending his title of a year ago with a mark of 47-0 ¾ (14.34m), which was two-and-a-half feet farther than Keene State College freshman Eden Damis.
For the second straight season, the Eastern men challenged UMass Dartmouth for the team title in the eight-team field, this year falling only 12 points shy of the Corsair's winning total of 118 by collecting 106 points. UMass Dartmouth won its third straight championship – fifth in 11 years. Eastern's second-place finish bested the University of Southern Maine's third-place total of 99. The Huskies had won 14 of the first 21 team titles.
Featuring a team of limited numbers due to injury, the Eastern women finished fourth in the eight-team field. Sophomore
Ashley Gentile (Hebron) won her first LEC title by capturing the 600 in a personal-best time of 1:42.88. The top seed, Gentile trimmed nearly two seconds off her seed time to outrun UMass Dartmouth junior Mckenzie Canuel (1:45.22) to gain the title after placing fourth a year ago at the meet with a time of 1:48.24. The top five seeds all finished in order.
The University of Southern Maine won eight individual events and one relay and collected 99 ½ points in four jumping events to ease to its 22
nd title. The Huskies piled up 222 ½ points to outdistance Keene State College (89) and UMass Dartmouth (81). Eastern, which was third last year and second behind USM in 2020, totalled 56 points.
Having set program indoor records earlier this year at 3000 and 5000 meters, Escoda paced three Eastern runners who scored points at 3000 meters Saturday. Behind Escoda, tenth-seeded graduate student
Tyler Wright (Westport) finished fourth (9:02.58), with ninth-seeded junior
Michael Parzych (Berlin) placing sixth (9:05.95).
All three Eastern men's relays ran to second-place finishes to add 24 points to the team's total.
With Wiltshire leading the way, the Eastern men recorded 20 points in the triple jump, with juniors
Conor Hennessy (Granby) and
Aidan Hennessy (Granby) placing 3-4 with marks of 13.33 (43-8 ¾) and 13.32 (43-8 ½).
For the men, second-seeded
Adam Schimmelpfennig (Pomfret) placed second with a time of 8.42 in the 60 hurdles, with
Aidan Hennessy and Wiltshire also scoring points with finishes of third (8.81) and fifth (9.26).
Sophomore
Nicole Popham (Bethel), seeded first in the triple jump, contributed eight points for the women by placing second (10.31m/33-10) in that event. Senior
Wendie Stewart (Hartford) was the women's top finisher in the shot (third place) and weight (seventh). Stewart threw 39-9 ¾ (12.13m) in the shot and 44-3 ¼ (13.49m) in the weight.
Eastern qualifiers will compete at the New England Division III Championships this weekend at the TRACK at New Balance in Boston.
