University of Massachusets Athletics
Men's Track and Field Travel To A-10 Championships
February 18, 2010 | Men's Track & Field
Feb. 18, 2010
AMHERST, Mass. - The UMass men's indoor track and field team is set to head to North Kingstown, R.I. this Friday and Saturday for the highly anticipated Atlantic 10 Championship meet. After a five week grind, the Minutemen will gather themselves to take a shot at the conference title. At last week's Valentine Invitational the Minutemen saw 21 New England and seven IC4A Championship qualifiers. The team will be looking to carry the momentum as they travel to URI this weekend.
At last year's A-10 meet, UMass captured seventh place out of a field of ten teams. Philip Weltman and Daniel Schwartz were the top two finishers for the Minutemen, as they both ranked third in their respective events. In the 400 meter run Weltman crossed the line at 50.08, while Schwartz notched 4334 points in the heptathlon, good enough for sixth place. Schwartz also finished first in the 1000 meter run at last year's event with a time of 2:43.13.
If momentum is a sign of things to come, the Minutemen have to be feeling great about going into this weekend's championship meet. At last week's Valentine Invitational, UMass added six New England and two IC4A Championship qualifiers, as well as a school top five mark. Leading the way was freshman sensation Joseph Doyle in the 800 meter run. Not only did his mark of 1:52.91 qualify him for both championship meets, but also placed him fifth all time in the event in Massachusetts history. Doyle was also named the Atlantic 10 Men's Indoor Track and Field Rookie of the Week.
Not failing to impress was Scott VanderMolen who captured ninth place in the 1000 meter run, crossing the line at 2:27.19. The mark was good enough to qualify for both the New England and IC4A Championships. The duo of Philip Weltman and Samuel Laorenza also competed strong for the Minutemen in the 400 meter run. The two placed 31st and 46th respectively with times of 49.22 and 49.75. Both qualified for the New England Championships.
Rounding out the momentum builders for UMass last weekend were Jonathan Pierce and Ryan DiOrio. It was Pierce in the 3000 meter run who reached a New England qualifying mark with a time of 8:28.89. For DiOrio the string of luck was in the 800 meter run as he crossed the line at 1:55.25, good enough for 30th overall.
The women's track and field team will also compete this weekend for a chance at the A-10 Championship. The start time for both teams is 9:30 am on Friday and Saturday. The meet can be seen live through A-10 All Access.
