The Warriors competed at the Little East Indoor Track & Field Championship in Plymouth, NH on Saturday. In this meet last year, both the men's and women's programs finished in 4th place out of the 9 LEC teams. This time around, the men claimed 4th once again, while the women improved a spot, finishing 3rd. Keene State won the LEC Championship on the men's side, while Southern Maine won on the women's side.
 
The Eastern men picked up 9 points in the long jump through Michael Hemmings (Bridgeport) and Christian Anderson (Bethel). Hemmings scored 5 points with his final jump of 6.35 meters (20'10) for 4th place and Anderson jumped 6.32m (20'9) for 5th. Givanni Perry (Hartford) won the event on the women's side, scoring 10 points with her 5.48m (17'11.75) jump that ranks just outside the top 50 in all of Division III this year. Naziah Johnson (Norwalk) finished 4th, jumping 5.28m (17'4) and Casondra Caldwell (Bridgeport) picked up the final point in 8th, jumping 5.20m (17'0.75). In the men's triple jump, Hemmings finished in 4th, just as he did in the long jump. He jumped 12.72m (41'8.75) while his teammate Tristan Nye (Willimantic) finished 5th with a jump of 12.54m (41'1.75). In the women's triple jump, Caldwell won the event with her jump of 11.29m (37'0.5). Laci Davis (Prospect) was 3rd, jumping 10.96m (35'11.5) and Perry took 5th with a jump of 10.68m (35'0.5).
 
Natasha Frisch (Mendota Heights, MN) dominated the women's pole vault competition, clearing 3.75m (12'3.5), a mark that breaks her own school record, breaks the previous meet and facility records, and becomes the 25th best vault in Division III this year. Katelyn DeNunzio (Bolton) earned 2 points in the competition, clearing 2.40m (7'10.5) for 6th place. On the men's side, Lucian Parker-Jennings (Athens, VT) took 5th in a large field, clearing 4.15m (13'7.25) and Joseph Richardson (Milford) rounded out the scoring in 8th, clearing 3.85m (12'7.5). In the women's high jump, Perry took second place and cleared the same height as the winner, 1.58m (5'2.25). Izzy Northrop (Uncasville) and Angelina Taccogna (Stratford) both scored in the competition as well. Northrop cleared 1.53m (5'0.25) for 4th place and Taccogna cleared 1.43m (4'8.25), sharing 8th place. Hemmings scored in all three jumping events, taking 5th in the high jump with his clearance of 1.87m (6'1.5).
 
In the throwing events, Andrew Johnson (Portland) finished 6th in the weight throw with his second throw of 15.30m (50'2.5). He beat this placement in the shot put, finishing 4th with a throw of 14.36m (47'1.5). Mike Prizio (Trumbull) also scored a couple points, finishing 7th with a throw of 13.54m (44'5.25). Anaka Eaton (Coventry) was 4th in the women's shot put, throwing 12.52m (41'1) and putting herself inside the top 70 in Division III this year.
 
On the track, Noah Hauswirth (Branford) picked up a point in the 5000-meter run, finishing in 16:03. Northrop qualified for finals in the 60-meter hurdles, running 9.58 for 4th. In finals, she improved her time, running 9.51, but dropped to 5th overall. On the men's side, Hagen Drake (Stonington) finished second in prelims to UMass Boston's Justin Riley, running 8.570, just a thousandth of a second slower than Riley. In finals, Drake finished second to Riley again. This time, Drake ran 8.560, nine thousandths of a second slower than the winner. In the 60m prelims, Naziah Johnson qualified for finals with a 7.97 and lowered her time in finals with a 7.92, narrowly missing out on 3rd place, but slightly lowering her school record. In the women's mile, Emely Melendez (Nashua, NH) ran 5:39.91 for 5th overall.
 
Eastern had two athletes score points in the women's 400m, as Ella Caplet (Bozrah) was 6th with her time of 1:01.42 and Jasmine Charlery (New Britain) was 8th with a 1:01.75. Drake earned another 8 points with a second-place finish in the men's 400m, running 50.99. Jakeem Wilson (Sterling) was 4th, running 51.68. Zachary D'Andrea (Wallingford) and Sam Ambrocio (Beacon Falls) went 3-4 in the men's 800m, running 1:59.70 and 2:00.57 respectively. Jeremy Peacock (Bolton) finished 8th in the 200m with a time of 23.17. The Eastern women finished 8th in the 4x800m relay with a time of 11:39.12, while the men were 4th with an 8:24.24. In the 4x400m relay, the women were 5th in 4:08.92 and the men won the event, running 3:28.34.
 
The Warriors are back in action next Sunday at the TRACK at New Balance for the New England Division III Championship. Like today's meet, competing athletes will have had to qualify for the competition, with times/marks even harder to obtain. Eastern raced at this facility on February 7 for the River Hawk Invitational.