University of Massachusets Athletics
UMass Track Teams to Compete at Atlantic 10 Championships
February 13, 2008 | Men's Track & Field
Feb. 13, 2008
AMHERST, Mass. - The UMass indoor track teams will head to the Atlantic 10 Indoor Championships this weekend in Kingston, Rhode Island. Both teams are coming off strong performances at the Boston University Valentine Invitational this past weekend where multiple men and women qualified for the New England Championships. Both teams will look to improve on last year's performances at the Indoor Championships.
Last season, the Minutemen placed fourth at the Atlantic 10 Championships. This season, the men are without seniors Erik Hoagland, James Godinho, and Zac Prysiecki, but they still return other top performer's from last season's Championships. For the sprinters, senior Nathan Barksdale (Valparaiso, Indiana) and sophomore Ian Hackney (Stratford, Conn.) will look to turn in top performances for the Minutemen. This season, Barksdale and Hackney have excelled in the 200 meter dash and will look to improve on their seasonal best times of 22.62 seconds and 22.61 seconds, respectively. Sophomore Samuel Laorenza (North Andover, Mass.) also returns to the line up and has already improved on last year's finish in the 400 meter run this past weekend at the BU Valentine Invitational.
Newcomer Darius Velez has had impressive freshman season and will look to perform well in the 55 meter dash. Sophomore Tyler Cotto (Holliston, Mass.) will be participating in his first Indoor Championships this season. Cotto is coming off a seasonal best performance in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 7.70 seconds to qualify for the New England Championships and the IC4A. Freshman Scott VanderMolen (Tully, N.Y.) will also be competing in his first Indoor Championship. This season, VanderMolen has had strong performances in the 800 meter and 1,000 meter run and will look to repeat those performances this weekend.
The distance crew for the Minutemen has the most depth and includes multiple runners from last season. Junior Josh Boone (Gardner, Mass.) is coming of a seasonal best performance in the one mile run at the BU Invitational where he qualified for the New England Championships and the IC4A. Junior Jesse Regnier (Hampden, Mass.), sophomore Nicolai Naranjo (Essex Fells, N.J.), and sophomore Jonathan Pierce (Hanover, Mass.) will have a chance to add points for the men in the 3,000 meter and 5,000 meter runs. All three runners have top performances this season that rank in the top fifteen performances in the Atlantic 10. Senior Ryan Durkin (Andover, Mass.) and sophomore Ryan Diorio (Bridgewater, N.J.) will also add depth for the distance crew.
In field events, sophomore Brian Miller (Foxboro, Mass.) will lead the way for the team in the high jump and long jump competitions, while freshman Sean Busch (Stow, Mass.) will look to assist the Minutemen in the pole vault competition.
For the women, they will look to improve on last season's tenth place finish. This season, the Minutewomen have had multiple strong performances from an array of women. Senior Christina DeRosa (Sound Beach, N.Y.) has consistently turned on strong performances all season long. This past weekend DeRosa placed ninth in the 3,000 meter run at the BU Valentine Invitational. DeRosa's time of 9:49.36 is now the third fastest time at UMass and also qualified her for the New England Championships and the ECAC. In addition, DeRosa holds the fastest time for the 3,000 meter run in the Atlantic 10.
Red-shirted senior Kristen Bakanowski (Northboro, Mass.) will return to the Indoor Championships after missing the last two seasons due to injury. Bakanowski was the indoor pole vault champion in 2005 and 2006. This season, Bakanowski's first place finish at the URI Invitational replaces the previous school record she set and also qualifies her for the New England Championships and ECAC. Bakanowski was also named the A-10 Women's Track Co- Performer of the Week (2/4) following her record breaking performance.
Freshman Gina Perno (Plainview, N.Y.) has had an impressive first season at UMass. Perno is coming off a second place finish in the 1000 meter run at the BU Invitational. Her second place finish out of fifty-one runners also qualified her for the New England Championships and the ECAC. Red-shirted senior and newcomer Danielle Bolt (Mattapan, Mass.) has also had impressive indoor season. At the Reebok Boston Indoor Games, Bolt placed first in the 55 meter dash with a time of 7.16 seconds. Bolt's time became the third fastest time at UMass and qualified her for the New England Championships and the ECAC. Bolt also qualified for the New England Championships with her fourth place finish in the 200 meter dash.
In field events, sophomore Molly Chapin (Northfield, Mass.) and sophomore Lisa Wilson (Holden, Mass.) will look to improve on last year's performances. Freshman Jaclyn Imhoff (Milton, Mass.) and Stephanie Aguguo (Shrewsbury, Mass.) will also look to perform well for the Minutewomen with their performances in the high jump and triple jump competitions, respectively.
Complete results will be posted at the end of competition on Saturday at www.atlantic10.org and live video streaming of the Championship will be available online at http://atlantic10.cstv.com/sports/c-itrack/atl10-c-itrack-body.html.
