NEW LONDON, Conn. – In their third outdoor track & field meet of the season, the Eastern Connecticut State University men and women placed seventh and ninth, respectively, at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Spring Invitational Saturday at Nitchman Field.

In a field of 11 teams, the men recorded 63 points while the women collected 44 points among 14 competing teams in the meet that featured upwards of 50 competitors in some events.

The UMass Dartmouth men, who won their first Little East Conference outdoor championship in eight years last season, posted a four-point win over Trinity College, while host Coast Guard ran away with the women's title by a margin of over 70 points.

Additional Little East teams competing were the UMass Dartmouth women, and Rhode Island College men and women.

The Warriors compete at the Connecticut College Silfen Invitational this weekend before hosting their own Bonnie Edmondson Classic April 21 at noon and competing in the Little East Conference Championships April 29 at UMass Dartmouth.

Men's Highlights

-- Senior Ryan Escoda (Newtown) amassed 12 of the team's points while senior Thomas Stone (Glastonbury), junior Conor Hennessy (Granby) and the 4x100 relay all added ten points each, sophomore Eric Phongsa (Pomfret) seven, junior Kaito Yasuda (Columbia) and first-year runner Sam Klein (Shelton) six each and junior Jacob Boutote (Bristol) two.

-- Escoda earned his points with third-place finishes in the 800 and 1500, Stone (3000 steeplechase) and the 4x100 by winning their respective events. Conor Hennessy was third in the triple jump and fifth in the javelin, Phongsa  fourt in the 200 and seventh place in the 100, Yasuda third in the 100 and Klein third in the 200, and Boutote seventh in the 400 hurdles. Comprising the winning relay were Phongsa, Klein, Yasuda and sophomore Adam Schimelpfennig (Pomfret).

-- Escoda, Stone, Phongsa and Klein all qualified for the New England Division III Championships: Escoda  posted a time of 3:59.97 in a third-place finish among 53 runners in the 1500 and Stone a 9:58.83 in winning the 3000 steeplechase. In a field of 39 runners in the 200, Klein was third (22.39) and Phongsa fourth (22.48).

-- Regarding top finishes in the LEC this year, Escoda ran the fastest time in the 1500 and second-fastest in the 800 (1:58.71), Stone the second-fastest time in the 3000 steeplechase. Conor Hennessy tied for second in the LEC this year in the triple jump (43-1 ¾) and had the fourth-farthest javelin throw (158-9), Yasuda the third-fastest (11.16) and Phongsa the sixth-fastest (11.26) 100, Klein the fourth-fastest and Phongsa the fifth-fastest 200. Among other Top 10 times in the LEC this year, senior Cory Bill (Mansfield) had the ninth-best 400 hurdles time (1:04.44).

-- Klein's time of 22.39 in the 200 was .65 seconds off the program record set by Jason Edwards 23 years ago while Yasuda's time of 11.16 in the 100 was .38 seconds off the program record of 10.78 set by All-America Rahman Oteng at Coast Guard four years ago.

Women's Highlights

-- Led by seniors Wendie Stewart (Hartford) and Mackenzie Dunn (Middletown), six individuals and two relays contributed to the team's point total. In two events each, Stewart totalled 13 points and Dunn nine. In a field of 33, Stewart won the shot for the first time outdoors and for the fourth time this year and was sixth in the hammer among 31 competitors, while Dunn was third in the long jump in a field of 24 and was sixth in the triple jump. Junior Shannon Burby (Wolcott) was fourth among 31 in the javelin and junior Alyssa Sirianni (Vernon) fourth in the 400 hurdles for five points each, first-year competitor Natasha Frisch (Mendota Heights, MN) sixth in the pole vault for three points and senior Keara Fontaine (North Kingstown, RI) seventh in the 3000 steeple chase for two.

-- The 4x100 relay was fifth and added four points and the 4x400 relay was eighth for three points. Running the 4x100 relay were Sirianni, sophomore Haley Robertson (Tolland), Dunn and sophomore Nicole Popham (Bethel). Comprising the 4x400 were sophomore Ashley Gentile (Hebron), Robertson, Sirianni and Popham.

-- Stewart in the shot put and Sirianni in the 400 hurdles both qualified for next month's New England Division III Championships at Springfield College. Steward recorded a PR of 39-8 ½ that gave her finishes of 1-2-3 this year in outdoor competition in that event, while Sirianni also recorded a PR of 1:08.98 in the 400 hurdles after a 1:09.73 in a second-place finish at Wesleyan March 26.

-- In the Little East Conference this year, Stewart's mark in the shot put was the best in the conference this year, with Sirianni's time in the 400 hurdles the second-best, and Dunn's triple jump of 33-11 ¼ was second-best in the Little East this season only behind the 34-9 recorded by Popham March 26 at Wesleyan. Dunn's long jump mark of 16-6 ranks third this year in the LEC, as does Gentile's time of 2:32.23 in the 800, Fritsch's pole vault of 8-10 ¼, sophomore Alison LeClerc's (Wolcott) 5000 meter time of 20:06.53, and Fontaine's 12:53.62 in the 3000 steeplechase. Also contributing Top 10 LEC marks were sophomore Analiese Poisson (Jamestown, RI) in the 100 hurdles (5^th/18.13), junior Elisabeth Rodil (Milford, NH) in the 1500 (6^th/5:21.30), Stewart in the hammer (6^th/123-0), and Burby in the javelin (7^th/105-9).