Jan. 30, 2007

The Sacred Heart University men and women's track and field teams competed at Lehigh University in the 15th Annual John Covert Classic and Combined Events over the weekend. The men placed secon out of 11 scoring teams with 121 points, narrowly losing to host Lehigh, which scored 131 points. The women placed fourth overall, just 10 points out of second place with an 82 point total. Delaware took the women's team title with a score of 128.

En route to their second place finish the men racked up five individual wins, three second places finishes, and six third place finishes. The men also recorded five IC4A qualifying performances in the meet. Junior standout Arman Dixon continued to lead for the Pioneers, winning both events he entered with IC4A qualifying performances.

Dixon won the long jump with a leap of 23' 11 1/2", which is well beyond the IC4A standard of 23' 1 3/4". Then, Dixon won the 60 meter dash, clocking an IC4A qualifying 6.83 in both the trials and the finals of the event. Dixon, who is undefeated this season, has won a total of eight individual events and three relays in only three competitions thus far and continues to lead the NEC in the 60 meters, 200 meters and long jump.

Junior Scott Giordano, placed second behind Dixon in the 60 meter dash with a personal best time of 6.97, and surpassed the IC4A standard of 6.98 in the process. Later in the meet, Giordano won the 400 meter event for the third time this season, clocking 51.25 on the very tight Lehigh oval. With his performance in the dash, Giordano has now qualified for the IC4A's in the 60, 200 and 400 meter events. He and Dixon are the only athletes in the NEC who have qualified for the IC4A meet in three different individual events this season.

In the throws, senior co-captain Evan Lasher won the weight throw with an IC4A qualifying toss of 55' 4 3/4", backed up by junior Michael Paradis, who finished second with personal best mark of 47 11 3/4". Lasher also threw an IC4A qualifying distance of 52' 8 1/4" while placing third in the shot put.

Sacred Heart's fifth win of the meet came in the 4 x 800 meter relay, where junior Robert Boerjes, and sophomores Scott Matheson, Joseph Palma and Luis German combined to run 8:15.42, with German anchoring in a split of 1:59.2. Other top place finishes for the Sacred Heart men were recorded by freshman Jason Soule (2nd, 500 meters, 1:09.13), Boerjes, (3rd, 500 meters, 1:10.00), German (3rd, 800 meters, 2:00.00), senior co-captain Alonzo Meek (3rd, 60 meter hurdles, 8.40), junior Jared Maher (3rd, high jump, 6' 0"), freshman Keith Rowe (3rd, heptathlon, 4145 points), and junior Michael Barrett (5th, long jump, 21' 2 3/4").

The Sacred Heart women broke three school records in the Lehigh meet while compiling two individual wins, four second place finishes, and three 3rd place finishes. Junior tri-captain Marsha Locke threw a personal best, and school record of 52' 2" in the weight throw, to top the existing record, set in 2004, by 1 1/2 inches. Classmate Christine Yakubec also had a big day, placing second in the weight throw with a personal best of 49' 3", as both athletes surpassed the automatic qualifying standard for the New England Championships. Locke went on to place second in the shot put as well, with a heave of 41' 8 3/4".

Freshman standout Brittany Dexter continued her winning ways in the high jump, emerging victorious for the fourth time in five tries this season with a clearance of 5' 6". Dexter, who has already qualified for the ECAC's in the event, continues to lead the NEC by a wide margin.

Senior Katrina Brown notched two school records on the day at Lehigh. Brown clocked 9.32 in the 60 meter hurdle trials, beating the record she set in last year's NEC Championship of 9.38. Brown doubled back in the 60 meter dash trials for another school record, clocking 8.16 seconds to beat the school standard of 8.21 that she also set in last year's NEC meet.

Additional personal bests in the meet were turned in by junior Melissa Kostan, sophomores Kathleen Henry and Brooke Fiorillo, and freshman Kerry Ojeda. Kostan placed second in the pentathlon with a personal best score of 3081 points, beating her previous best of 3008 points. Henry ran an indoor personal best of 5:16.98 in the Mile run, while placing second out of 43 entries, to beat her previous best by almost 2 seconds. Fiorillo, who only began competitive running in September, shaved a full minute off of her personal best in the 5000 meters, clocking 19:36.86 to place fourth overall. Ojeda cleared an indoor personal best of 10' 6" in the pole vault, placing 6th in the meet, and moving into fourth on the NEC performance list. Other top place finishers for the Pioneer women included senior Anne Duffy (3rd, 3000 meters, 10:49.09), sophomore Sarana Hyatt (3rd, pentathlon, 2901 points), and the 4 x 400 meter relay team consisting of Kostan, Hyatt, and freshmen Bonnie Kilis and Samantha Hiltzik (3rd, 4:12.93).