University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
Atlantic 10 Championship
Minutemen Finish Third At A-10 Outdoor
May 04, 2003 | Men's Outdoor Track
May 4, 2003
Amherst, Mass. -- University of Massachusetts senior sprinter Kwesi Frimpong-Boateng (Accra, Ghana) swept the 100- and 200-meter dashes at the 2003 Atlantic 10 Outdoor Championships Sunday afternoon at Richmond, Va., to earn the meet's Outstanding Track Performer honor and lead the Minutemen to a third-place finish in the team standings
Rhode Island scored 222 points to claim the team title for the third consecutive year, with La Salle finishing second (148) and Massachusetts third with its 120 points. Saint Joseph's (83), Duquesne (70), Temple (65), Richmond (62) and Fordham (60) rounded out the team scoring. Under the direction of 36-year mentor Ken O'Brien, the Minutemen have finished among the top three at the outdoor conference meet in 20 of the last 21 seasons, including each of the last 14 years.
Frimpong-Boateng won the 100-meter dash in an A-10 Championship meet and UMass school record time of 10.30. His time eclipsed the meet record of 10.31 set by Virginia Tech's Andre Davis (now a member of the NFL's Cleveland Browns) in 1998, and Adrian Zullo's school mark of 10.43 set in 1999. Frimpong-Boateng then came back to win the 200-meter dash in another A-10 meet and UMass school record time of 20.90, which bettered Davis' 1998 meet record of 20.95 and Steve Chase's 1968 school record of 20.9.
Junior John O'Neil (North Reading, Mass.), the defending A-10 decathlon champion, tallied 6,065 points in this year's competition to finish second. His mark was a personal-best and ranked as the fourth-best decathlon score in UMass history. O'Neil also finished fourth in the 400-meter hurdles in 55.14.
Other scorers for UMass on the track Sunday included: freshman Brandon Phillips (Stoughton, Mass.), who was fourth in the 110-meter hurdles in 15.36; sophomore Jon Korhonen (Gardner, Mass.), who was fifth in the 1,500-meter run in 3:54.36; freshman Chris Brayley (Chicopee, Mass.), who was seventh in the 100-meter dash in 10.85; sophomore Andy McCarron (Lunenburg, Mass.), who was seventh in the 5,000-meter run in 15:32.96; senior Dave Hantman (Cambridge, Mass.), who was eighth in the 5,000-meter run in 15:38.12 and senior Joe Gans (Townsend, Mass.), who was eighth in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:00.80.
Minutemen who scored points on Sunday in the field events included: senior Eric Uliano (Haverhill, Mass.), who was second in the shot put with a throw of 53-0 1/4; sophomore Henry Smith (Ellington, Conn.), who was sixth in the triple jump (45-1) and sophomore Rafael Jordan (Amherst, Mass.), who was seventh in the shot put with a mark of 40-1 1/4.
UMass finished fifth in both the 4 x 400-meter relay (3:22.73) and 4 x 800-meter relay (8:01.14), sixth in the 4 x 100-meter relay (44.01).
All Atlantic 10 individual champions automatically qualify for NCAA Regional competition, scheduled for May 30-31. UMass heads to the New England Championships, May 9-10, at Durham, N.H.
Final Team Scores: 1. Rhode Island, 222; 2. La Salle, 148; 3. Massachusetts, 120; 4. Saint Joseph's, 83; 5. Duquesne, 70; 6. Temple, 65; 7. Richmond, 62; 8. Fordham, 60.
