Red Flash Men Win Fifth NEC Indoor Track & Field Championship, Women Finish Fifth
LANDOVER, Md. (Feb. 22, 2009) – The Saint Francis men’s track & field team crowned champions in six events on their way to capturing the 2009 Northeast Conference Indoor Track & Field Championship, which were held Saturday and Sunday at the Prince George’s Sports & Learning Complex in Landover, Md.
Senior Denis Eradiri (Sofia, Bulgaria / Vladislav Gramatik 73) was named the Northeast Conference Most Outstanding Field Performer of the Meet, junior Chris Behre (Flanders, N.J. / Mount Olive) was awarded the Most Outstanding Track Performer of the Meet, and Felix Moreno was named the 2009 NEC Men’s Indoor Track Coach-of-the-Year.
The Red Flash won the Men’s Distance Medley and finished fifth in the 4x400-meter relay, the final two events, to overtake Monmouth and win the school’s fifth men’s indoor track & field conference title with a team total of 121 points. It is the first NEC Indoor Track & Field title for SFU since 2004.
Saint Francis was picked to finish third in a preseason poll of league coaches. The preseason favorite, Monmouth, took second with 116 points, while Long Island (84.5) took third, Central Connecticut State (58) took fourth, and Sacred Heart (55.5) finished fifth in the 11-team group.
Junior Anna Hoffman (Enon Valley, Pa. / Mohawk) won two events to lead the Red Flash women’s indoor track & field team to a fifth-place finish with 42 points. Monmouth won the women’s event with 140.5 points, while Long Island (134) took second, Sacred Heart (132) finished third, and Mount St. Mary’s (56) took fourth in the 12-team field.
In earning Most Outstanding Track Athlete honors, Behre won three events, and finished fifth in another. He captured gold in the 800-meter run with a time of 1 minutes, 59.95 seconds, and also won the mile run in 4:25.79.
Behre was also on the two relay teams that clinched the team championship. He helped the men’s Distance Medley team of Jorden Davis (Mississauga, Ontario / Loyola Catholic), Lloyd Foster (Bowie, Md. / DeMatha Catholic) and Jeremy Tice (Littleton, Colo. / Chatfield) win with a time of 10:32.90.
Behre was also on the fifth-place 4x400-meter relay team of Anthony Rusonis (York, Pa. / West York Area), Tice and Davis that finished in 3:24.94.
Eradiri captured a title in the triple jump with a distance of 49 feet, 11.25 inches, good for an IC4A championship qualifier. Additionally, he qualified for IC4A’s with a third-place distance of 23-02.50 in the long jump.
Davis also captured an individual title in the 400-meter dash in 48.58 seconds, an automatic IC4A championship qualifying time. He also qualified for the IC4A meet with a second-place time of 22.20 seconds in the 200-meter dash.
Senior Karl Dewayngaert (Red Bank, N.J. / Red Bank) captured Saint Francis’ other individual title in the weight throw with an IC4A qualifying distance of 60-07.75. He also took eighth in the shot put with a distance of 47-11.25.
Senior Ben Maderia (Summerhill, Pa. / Forest Hills) captured Top-5 finishes in two events. He took second in the shot put with a toss of 54-04.50, and then took fourth in the weight throw with a distance of 56-03.00. He automatically qualified for the IC4A championships in both events.
Senior Josh Hazen (Vernon, N.J. / Vernon) also took fourth in the shot put (52-01.25) to qualify for IC4A’s, and freshman Terry Bookhamer (Altoona, Pa. / Altoona) finished 10th in the weight throw (49-07.25).
Tice, a former four-year recruited member of the Red Flash men’s soccer team, also took sixth in the mile run with a time of 4:30.86.
Freshman Chris Mills (Pikesville, Md. / Western Tech) had a pair of Top-7 finishes on his weekend to help score points for Saint Francis. He took fifth in the 3,000-meter run in 8:51.12, and finished seventh in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 15:24.10.
Senior Will Velez (Staten Island, N.Y. / Benedictine) finished second in the long jump with a distance of 23-04.50 to qualify for the IC4A championships, freshman Michael Steffenino (Adara, Pa. / Norwin) took seventh in the pole vault (14-03.25), freshman Brian Kealey (Southampton, Pa. / Archbishop Wood) finished eighth in the mile run (4:30.95), sophomore Andrew McKee (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Shaler) was 10th in the mile run (4:36.87) and ninth in the 3,000-meter run (9:01.56), and sophomore Tim Wertner (Chambersburg, Pa. / Greencastle-Antrim) took fifth in the 5,000-meter run (15:18.79).
Hoffman paced the women’s team to its fifth-place finish with two individual titles. She captured gold in the 3,000-meter un in 10:07.06, and also won the 5,000-meter run in 17:54.05.
Additionally, Hoffman teamed up with Allyson Sheehan (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Baldwin), Danielle Williams (Altoona, Pa. / Bishop Guilfoyle), and Hannah Reist (Cleona, Pa.) took take second in the Women’s Distance Medley with a time of 12:36.73.
Sheehan also took seventh in the 5,000-meter run (18:35.13) and ninth in the 3,000-meter run (10:29.20).
Sophomore Christin Bridge (Gibsonia, Pa. / Pine Richland) paced the women’s field athletes with a third-place showing in the shot put with a distance of 43-02.50. Senior Elise Pearce (Cherry Tree, Pa. / Purchase Line) took sixth in the weight throw (47-01.50), and sophomore Elizabeth DeMedal (New Wilmington, Pa. / Wilmington Area) finished sixth in the pole vault (10-04.00).
Sophomore Sarah Grossi (Canonsburg, Pa. / Canon-McMillan) finished 10th in the mile run (5:27.01), while the all-freshmen team of Kayla Kline (Ebensburg, Pa. / Cambria Heights), Christy Staily (Martinsburg, Pa. / Central), Nicole Brownyard (Carlisle, Pa. / Trinity) and Sarah Frydrych (Wilmington, Del. / Saint Marks) finished seventh in the 4x400 meter relay with a time of 4:11.70.