Men's Track Wins Eight Events, Finish 2nd at Maine Open

The Central Connecticut men's track and field team won eight events, including both relays, but finished eight points shy of the host Black Bears at the Maine Open on Saturday. The Blue Devils put up 116 points to UMaine's 124, while the Crusaders of Holy Cross placed third with 103 points.

Six different Blue Devils won individual events to propel CCSU to their second place finish in Orono. Freshman Matt Berube won the high jump, recording a height of 1.87 meters. He also placed second in the long and triple jumps with distances of 6.43 and 13.41 meters, respectively. Senior Sean Smith placed first in the 200 meters, crossing the line in 22.85 seconds. Smith also was third in the 55 meters, recording a time of 6.61 seconds, and was a member of the victorious Blue Devil 4x400 relay team.

Joining Smith on the 4x400 team were junior R.J. Simeone, sophomore Shawn Buchanan and freshman Dionis White who finished in 3:28.03. Simeone also won the 500 meters in a time of 1:05.87. Freshman Dan Watson took home the crown in the 800, crossing the line in 1:59.41, while sophomore Robert Weston won the 1,000 meters in 2:35.69. Watson and Weston teamed up with senior Matthew Whalen and sophomore Anthony Marceau to place first in the 4x800 meter relay, timing in at 8:13.51. To round out the Blue Devil victories, junior Ry Sanderson won the 3,000 meters in 8:45.74.

CCSU has a week off from competition and will gear up for the Northeast Conference Championships on February 21-22 in Landover, MD.