VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The Eastern Connecticut State University Track & Field team competed at the Betty S. Rogers Invitational on Friday and Saturday, a two-day meet hosted by Virginia Wesleyan University at the Betty S. Rogers Track and Field Center. Competing on Friday were athletes entered in field events, while track events were held on Saturday. The discus throw, triple jump, and high jump were the field events wrapped up on the final day in conjunction with the track events.
Eastern athletes won 13 of the 38 events contested -- ten of 34 individual events and three of four relays -- and also commanded 11 second-place finishes in the non-scoring event.
Bode Paquin (Windham) led the Warriors in the men's pole vault on Friday, tying for first with a clearance of 3.80 meters (12'5.5).
Ellis Thompson (Coventry) won the men's hammer throw by 26 feet, throwing 46.79m (153'6) on his sixth and final attempt. In the women's hammer throw,
Anaka Eaton (Coventry) won the event by over 50 feet. On her first attempt, she threw the hammer 48.35m (158'7) and none of the other competitors came close. Eaton also took the win in the shot put, throwing 11.82m (38'9.5) for a narrow first place finish.
In the men's shot put,
Mark Boudreau (Oxford) finished in second place, throwing 14.43m (47'4.25) to lead his teammates.
Givanni Perry (Hartford) led a pack of three Warriors to sweep the top three places in the women's long jump. Perry's third jump of 5.51m (18'1) was enough to win the competition. Eaton was Eastern's representative in the women's javelin throw, finishing fourth with a throw of 27.60m (90'6). For the men,
Andrew Johnson (Portland) finished second overall in the javelin throw, earning his best distance on his fourth throw of 51.95m (170'5).
On Saturday,
Mike Prizio (Trumbull) finished second in the men's discus after throwing 40.49m (132'10) in one of his two legal throws of the competition. In the women's discus, Eaton also finished in second, throwing 32.29m (105'11).
Laci Davis (Prospect) won the women's triple jump, reaching 11.21m (36'9.5) on her third attempt. Perry won the high jump with her clearance of 1.67m (5'5.75) to wrap up the field events for the Warriors and tie the school record set at the Little East Conference Championships in 2013 by Lauren Hultzman.
On the track, the Eastern women put a 4x100m relay team together that ran 51.52 to defeat the other team entered in the event by 1.1 seconds. The men's team finished in second place, running a time of 44.27. In the men's 1500m,
Sam Ambrocio (Beacon Falls) led his teammates with a time of 4:10.72 for second overall.
Izzy Northrop (Uncasville) took the win in the 100m hurdles, running 15.97 as the only athlete to dip under 16 seconds.
Hagen Drake (Stonington) finished second in the 110m hurdles for the men, running 15.47. In the 100m dash,
Naziah Johnson (Norwalk) won prelims in the 100m dash with a time of 12.75 and lowered her time to a 12.49 to win finals. Johnson also took the win in the 200m dash in a time of 25.99. On the men's side,
Jeremy Peacock (Bolton) was fourth in 11.36, lowering his time and retaining his position in finals, finishing in 11.15.
Ella Caplet (Bozrah) finished her 400m dash in 1:01.57 for third, while
James Saint-Jean (Bridgeport) was fourth for the men in 50.38. Saint-Jean also ran the 200m, finishing seventh in 22.80. In the men's 800m,
Joey Caruk (Wethersfield) finished in fourth place with a time of 2:00.40. Both 4x400m relay teams won their respective events, as the women ran 4:14.68 to win a field of two and the men ran 3:28.14 to win a field of six.
The Warriors are back in action this weekend at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Corsair Classic. In last year's Corsair Classic, the men finished in fourth place out of twelve teams and the women finished in third out of fourteen teams. The other Little East Conference teams in attendance were the hosts UMass Dartmouth, as well as Western Connecticut State University. Both the WPI men and women's programs won the meet, with the men winning by 82.5 over second-placed UMass Dartmouth. The women defeated second-placed Springfield College by ten points.
