University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
Atlantic 10 Championships
Minutemen Place Fifth At A-10 Championships
February 20, 2010 | Men's Track & Field
Feb. 20, 2010
NORTH KINGSTON, R.I. - The men's track and field team was in action on Saturday as the team concluded the two day A-10 Championship event. The team sat third overall at the end of day, and on day two took fifth place overall with 68 points. The Minutemen had competitors involved in two events that have not been participated in thus far this season by UMass, including the 4x800 meter relay, and the heptathlon.
Finishing second overall in the 1,000 meter run, and taking home A-10 All-Conference Honors was Scott VanderMolen. The junior crossed the line at 2:27.39, as he previously qualified in the event (Feb. 13) for the New England and IC4A Championships.
In the 55 meter hurdles, Tyler Cotto led the way for UMass once again, taking third place with a time of 7.62. The senior hurdler already qualified for the New England and IC4A Championships and set the second best time ever in UMass history in the event earlier this season.
The A-10 meet saw the first heptathlon competition for the Minutemen this season. Standing strong, Daniel Schwartz and Chris Dzidek took fourth and fifth respectively with 4,450 and 4,212 points.
The duo of Samuel Laorenza and Nick Otis ran with confidence once again as the duo finished sixth and seventh respectively in the 500 meter run, with times of 1:06.00 and 1:06.33. Already New England Championship qualified in the event, Jonathan Pierce notched a sixth place finish in the 3,000 meter run with a time of 8:38.70.
In the field events, Zachary Koncki proved for a respectable finish in the triple jump. The sophomore improved upon his previous season best in the event by jumping a distance of 44-00.00, good enough for sixth place.
The Minutemen will be back in action on Feb. 26 and Feb. 27 at the New England Championships. Friday's start time is scheduled for 1:30 pm, while Saturday's is at 10:00 am.
