May 14, 2007

The Sacred Heart men and women's track & field teams both finished fourth at the 2007 New England Championships held at Dartmouth College over the weekend. The Pioneer men and women field athletes led the way with five wins at the event. SHU matched their all-time total of six New England titles at this weekend's event and came home with their best ever finishes.

The SHU men finished with 51 total points to finish fourth in a field of 37 teams. The University of Rhode Island won the meet with 155.50 points. The Pioneers previous best finish was fifth last year. The Pioneer women came away with 70 total points for a fourth place finish in a 34 team field. SHU topped their best-ever finish of eighth at the 2004 meet. Williams came home with the title with 108 total points.

Pioneer senior Evan Lasher (Pleasant Valley, NY) defended his New England Championship in the shot put and added a new title to his trophy case with a win in the discus as well. Lasher added a fourth place finish in the javelin to his weekend to pick up All-New England honors in three events. The senior ends his stellar career with 13 All-New England performances, a school record.

Lasher bested the shot put field with a toss of 56'5.25" (17.20m), giving him the title in the event for the second straight year. He followed that with a win in the discus, an event he won at last weekend's NEC Championship by setting a new conference record (53.53m). Lasher unleashed a throw of 171'00" (52.12m) for his third career win at the New England's. Lasher finished off his weekend finishing fourth in the javelin with a throw of 197'1.00" (60.07m).

The Pioneer 4x100 relay team of senior Alonzo Meek (Wayne, NJ) and juniors Scott Giordano (Hamden, CT), Michael Barrett (Islip Terrace, NY) and Arman Dixon (Beacon, NY) streaked across the finish line in 41.01 seconds to claim the gold medal, edging out the team from Rhode Island who finished in 41.12. Giordano picked up All-New England honors in the 200-metes as well, finishing fourth in the event. Giordano ran 21.42.

SHU juniors Marsha Locke (Danbury, CT) and Jamie Kilis (Marlborough, CT) and freshman Brittany Dexter (Ballston Lake, NY) all claimed wins in the field while four Pioneers finished in the top-seven of the heptathlon.

Locke and Kilis took home All-New England honors for the second straight year in claiming their first career titles. Locke won the shot put with a toss of 45'10.00" (13.97m). Teammate Lenahndem Tankeng (Yonkers, NY) came in third behind Locke with a throw of 43'8.50" (13.32m) for All-New England honors.

Kilis was victorious in the javelin, coming up with a thro of 134'1" (40.88m) and was followed in third by her younger sister, freshman Bonnie Kilis (Marlborough, CT) who threw 127'02" (38.77m).

Dexter continued her breakout freshman season by claiming the New England Championship in the high jump, an event she won at both the indoor and outdoor NEC title meets. Dexter cleared the bar at a height of 5'7.75". She finished seventh in the event at the indoor New England meet.

In the heptathlon, junior Melissa Kostan (Salem, NY) led the charge racking up 4,551 points to claim second place overall. In third was sophomore Sarana Hyatt (St. Albans, NY) with 4,504 points and in fourth was freshman Bonnie Kilis with 4,290 points. Junior Brianne Hudak (Corinth, NY) finished seventh overall with 3,962 points.