Fitchburg State Soars At Jay Carisella Meet

McClure sets school pole vault record at 3.35m; Kibler leads men with first place finish in the mile

ROXBURY, Mass. (December 15, 2013) – The Fitchburg State men’s and women’s indoor track & field teams were in action this afternoon as they competed in the 2013 Jay Carisella Meet hosted by Northeastern University.

For the ladies, junior Rebecca McClure (Lyndeborough, N.H.) broke her own school pole vaulting record with an ECAC qualifying vault of 3.35 meters to place third overall, while freshman Meghan Belton (Lawrence, Mass.) posted a post-season qualifying time of 29.07 in the 200m. Newcomer Morgan Steele (Somerset, Mass.) was also solid, notching a MASCAC qualifying toss of 10.12 meters in the shot put in her first collegiate competition.

Junior Jenae Harrison (Sioux Falls, S.D.) improved upon her times in the mile (5:45.31) and 800m (2:35.55) from last week, as did classmate Natasha McInnis (Leominster, Mass.) in the 60 meter dash (8.46) and the 200m (28.55).

The women’s squad also added three new MASCAC qualifiers as sophomores Libby Ward (Ashby, Mass.) and Jessica Mangan (Everett, Mass.) both qualified in the mile with times of 6:00.30 and 6:19.59 respectively, while senior Samantha Wilkinson (Wakefield, Mass.) added a MASCAC qualifying time of 2:33.07 in the 800 meter run to round out the top Falcon efforts for the ladies.

On the men’s side, graduate student Chris Kibler (Bath, Me.) continued his outstanding running, ranking first in the country in the mile to qualify for four post-season honors in the event. Chris placed first overall in the mile with a time of 4:14.39, while placing fourth overall in the 1000 meter with a DIII NE qualifying time of 2:36.76. Junior Pat Conaty (Southington, Conn./Southington) was also solid, notching a MASCAC mark in 60 meter dash with a time of 7.48, while sophomore Ben Bottrell (Malden, Mass.) also qualified for the post-season, turning in a DIII NE mark of 1.88 meters in the high jump.

On the track, freshman Matt Cuomo (Carlisle, Mass.) and sophomores Sam Carroll (Brockton, Mass.) and Michael Martin (Gardner, Mass.) posted MASCAC times of 2:52.85, 3:02.06 and 3:03.53 respectively in the 1000m, while newcomer Nicholas Levenson (Halifax, Mass.) (54.30) and sophomore Brandon Brideau (Leominster, Mass.) (55.11) finished strong in the 400m to qualify for MASCAC’s.

In the 5000 meter, senior Larry Teague (Tyngsboro, Mass.) and Carroll turned in post-season qualifying times of 16:42.99 and 17:28.45 respectively, while freshman Brandon Hannon (Pelham, N.H.) and junior Mark Wesgan (Lunenburg, Mass.) rounded out the top Falcon efforts on the afternoon, posting MASCAC qualifying times of 4:38.48 and 9.53 in the mile and 60m hurdles.

The Fitchburg State men’s and women’s indoor track & field teams will be in action again after the winter break as they visit Tufts University on January 18th for a meet starting at 10 a.m.