University of Massachusets Athletics
Busch Featured In Sentinel Enterprise
May 04, 2010 | Men's Track & Field
May 4, 2010
AMHERST, Mass. - UMass men's track and field star, Sean Busch, was recently featured in the Sentinel Enterprise along with his teammates Joe Doyle and Sean Duncan. Busch was recently crowned an A-10 Champion on May 1. The A-10 Meet, which was hosted at home in Amherst, produced a fourth place finish for the UMass men. Also competing was Doyle in the 800 meter run and Duncan in the 3,000 meter steeple chase.
"The focus on this meet was simply to win and, in that respect, I thought I did well today. I was ranked first coming in, and that comes with a lot of pressure and expectation, so I was glad that I was able to follow through" said Busch on the weekend's proceedings.
Busch has now taken first place for two consecutive weeks in the pole vault, culminating with the most recent at the Atlantic 10 Championships. The junior is now qualified for the New England and IC4A Championships, as he reached the second best height in school history (15-9) at the UNH Pre-Conference Meet (4/24).
Doyle was part of a New England and IC4A qualifying 4x800 meter relay team at the A-10 Championships. The quad combined for a time of 7:28.55, good enough for fourth place.
Duncan is New England Championship qualified in the steeple chase, as he reached season best time in the event at the A-10 Meet, crossing the line at 9:22.09 while taking third place overall.
Below is the full article from SentinelandEnterprise.com:
College Track: Nashoba Grad Vaults To The Top
By: Matt Stewart
AMHERST -- The University of Massachusetts track and field squad has a number of former local athletes making major contributions to the team's success this season.
This past weekend, no contribution was bigger than that of Nashoba Regional product Sean Busch, a junior pole vaulter who captured first place in the event at the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship. Busch aided the Minutemen to a fourth-place finish overall (104 points) on Saturday and Sunday at the UMass Track and Field Complex.
"(The Atlantic 10 Championship) is the most important meet, because it's the league meet," the Stow native said after Saturday's competition. "The focus on this meet was simply to win and, in that respect, I thought I did well today. I was ranked first coming in, and that comes with a lot of pressure and expectation, so I was glad that I was able to follow through."
Busch claimed first place with a vault of 15 feet, 3 inches, beating out Duquesne sophomore Jonathan Dorph by 4 inches. Once Busch cleared the height, he upped the bar to more than 16 feet in an attempt to break the school record, but was unsuccessful in three attempts.
A jump of 15 feet, 9 inches in the UNH Pre-Conference Meet in the week prior to the A10s tied Busch's personal best and ranked him as No. 2 in the UMass outdoor record book in the event, just a quarter of an inch short of tying the mark. He'll have another shot at the record during Friday's New England Championship and the IC4A Championship the following week.
"(Busch) is getting consistent at a very high level," longtime UMass head track coach Ken O'Brien said. "I usually tell the kids, 'When you're consistent, it means that you're ready to make a big jump in your personal best.' People that fluctuate a foot or foot and half, they probably don't have things together enough to anticipate a real improvement, but when you're doing really, really well at the same height for a while, you're just ready to let one go. Hopefully, that happens (soon for Busch)."
This spring, in addition to claiming first place in the A10s and UNH Pre-Conference, Busch earned second in the UMass Nine-Way Meet, placed third in the Larry Ellis Invitational and finished sixth in the UConn Invitational. This past winter, Busch tied the UMass indoor record with a jump of 15 feet, 9 inches in the IC4A Championship for a 12th-place finish. He was also Atlantic 10 Champion in the winter season, posting a height of 15 feet, 3 inches.
O'Brien credits Busch with continuing to improve while transitioning through three pole vault coaches throughout his career. Busch said current event coach David Jackson has helped to improve his "physical fitness," leaving him in the best shape of his college career.
A challenging, reputable and affordable electrical engineering program is what drew Busch to UMass, and his achievements in the classroom have mirrored his athletic success. Busch boasts a 3.74 GPA, and received the UMass Winter Scholar-Athlete Award for this past season.
Busch wasn't heavily recruited for track in college, and joined the Minutemen as a walk-on as a freshman.
"Just by working and putting in my time over the last three years, I've gotten to where I am," Busch said. "I never expected to compete in college until I made the team, and I've just had success since."
Former Gardner High athlete Sean Duncan is a junior runner for the Minutemen. He competed in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in the A10 championship, finishing fourth with a time of 9:25.29.
"(Duncan's) been a good athlete for us in many ways," O'Brien said. "His major contribution to our team is that he's very versatile. ... Between having the speed of a middle-distance guy and the endurance of a cross-country runner -- plus a little bit of a free spirit, which the steeplechase takes -- it's a nice combination."
Newcomer Joe Doyle, who graduated from Nashoba Regional last year, has performed well during his freshman campaign. On Saturday, he helped the 4x800-meter relay team to a fourth-place finish with a time of 7:28.55. He also competed individually in the 800 (1:59.44), and ran to a first-place finish (1:55.31) in the UNH Pre-Conference in the event.
"Joe's made the transition from high school to college with some ease," O'Brien said. "With guys like him ... providing excitement as a young guy, it kind of bumps the upper-class people out of any laziness that they might fall back into."
Doyle's fellow co-captain from last year's Nashoba team, Conor Megee, competed in the 200-meter dash at the A10s (23.21). Josh Boone, a Gardner High alumnus, has made solid contributions to the school's track program despite seeing limited action this spring in his redshirt senior season. He was a member of the sixth-place 4x800 relay at the Indoor New England Championship this winter.