The Boston University men's and women's outdoor track and field team crossed the regular season finish line last weekend, closing with strong showings at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Penn., and the Brown Invitational in Providence, R.I.
"We had a tremendous showing," said BU coach Robyne Johnson. "[Senior] Tahari James did an excellent job in the long jump, and that's kind of the biggest section in the relays."
James finished third in the Championship of America long jump competition at the Penn Relays, landing at 6.08 meters for her best mark of the season. Sophomore Whitney Ford won the Eastern division of the triple jump with a distance of 12.74m.
The women's 4x100m relay team finished fourth in 47.27. In the 400m hurdles, junior Rebecca Marshburn (62.54) and sophomore Casey Jordan (66.33) placed 26th and 45th, respectively.
Despite inclement conditions at Sunday's Brown Invitational, senior Jake Laroe took first in the 800m in 1:54.34, followed by third-place finisher Ken Haltom (1:55.46).
"It wasn't the greatest weather, but we still had some decent performances," Johnson said. "There were a number of good, well-rounded things that went on."
In the 1500m, senior Nick Goodman (3:53.48) and sophomore David Polgar (3:58.37) finished second and sixth, respectively. Sophomore Max Esposito took ninth in the 100m with an 11.51 finish, while placing eighth in the 200m in 23.42. Senior Keith Buchanan (23.26) took sixth.
The 100m hurdles saw three Terriers finish in the Top-10: junior Jason Nardella (15.57, 3rd), freshman Rich Haigh (16.35, 8th) and senior Greg Daggett (17.11, 10th). Sophomore Mark Mazzochette placed sixth in the 400m hurdles in 57.01.
In the shot put, a 15.49m throw landed sophomore Jan Bicanic a second-place finish and freshman Dan Withrow placed sixth with a 14.56m effort. Haigh (6.34) placed fifth in the long jump, while sophomore Logan Moore's 4.35m height in the pole vault tied for second to outlast classmate Jordan Cumper (3.75m, 8th).
Withrow took 12th in the hammer throw with a 42.02m heave, while senior Dan Martin (41.96m, 7th), sophomore Chase Carnahan (41.47m, 8th) and juniors Mike Salem (31.79m, 16th) and Jun Dambara (30.85m, 20th) each placed in the discus. In the javelin, Carnahan finished eighth with a 46.94m distance to best senior Andy Beatman (46.37m, 10th), junior Chris Conroy (43.16m, 14th) and Salem (38.22m, 17th).
For the women, freshman Alex Jackson's 12.45 finish in the 100m earned her second place, while senior Alyssa Fanucci placed ninth with a 13.11 mark. Freshman Amanda Howard (1:00.39) finished eighth in the 400m, freshman Emma Reed (2:16.47) took ninth in the 800m and junior Mollie Zapata (4:56.57) placed 20th in the 1500m. Senior Megan LaBella ran the 100m hurdles in 18.69, good for 18th place.
Junior Edwina Clark recorded the third-best long jump distance in America East this season, winning at Brown with a 5.65m leap to outdo Fanucci (4.93m, 8th). In the high jump, freshman Karly Neveu finished second with a 1.65m effort and LaBella (1.55m) placed eighth. Jackson's 10.78m distance was good for fifth in the triple jump, sophomore Fiona Romeri cleared 3.20m for eighth place in the pole vault and freshman Jen Fleser tossed 40.86m to round out the Top 10 in the hammer throw.
"I think the regular season went well," Johnson said. "We took people out to some key meets. We felt like we put our kids in a good situation to have good times and make good things happen."
The Terriers move on to this weekend's America East Tournament in Orono, Me. Both the men and women's teams have registered recent Top 5 finishes in the conference tournament. The women placed third last year and second in 2006, while the men finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
In light of the success, Johnson said it is her goal to make sure the squads are prepared and confident.
"We're going to go back and do the things we know that work, get people focused on what they need to do and just keep working at it," Johnson said. "We have a very strong team and I expect the best from all my kids this week. I'm sure they'll stand up to the challenge.
"Overall, I have a high outlook for all our kids. I think we're going to see some good performances and do what's expected of us."
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