PDF
Team aims for strong showing at Northeast-10 Championship
Written by: Louis Sherman
Track and Field is a sport that receives little praise at Bentley. Some people do not believe in running as being a sport, because every sport involves running in some way. Tell that to Usain Bolt.
Bentley Track and Field does not play other teams directly like other sports. Meets are held by invitation only. Bentley has competed at six invitationals this spring, with two remaining before the Northeast-10 Conference Championships meet on May 1 in Easton, MA.
On April 16, Bentley Men’s Track and Field had stellar performances by two of their distance runners. Senior Dan Darcy and freshman Curtis Trueb set school records in the 1500-meter race within 10 minutes of one another.
At the Princeton Invitational, Dan Darcy put his name in Bentley history. Darcy won his 1500-meter heat in an impressive 3:52.57 that broke Lou Raffetto’s previous record by 0.97 seconds, which had been held for seven years.
In the following heat, Curtis Trueb created a new record of 3:52.35, just 0.22 seconds faster than Darcy. Both competitors provisionally qualified for the National Division II Championship with their times.
Just to get an idea about how fast their times are, a 3:52 in the 1500 converts to a 4:08 mile.
On April 10, Trueb and Darcy finished first and second in the 62-man 800 meter event, respectively, at the George Davis Invitational held at UMass Lowell. Trueb posted a swift 1:55.09 for his third win of the spring season. Darcy cruised past the finish line just four-tenths of a second later. Sophomore Dan Fava finished 10th with a time of 1:59.25.
Sophomore Mike Vatti placed second in the field of 37 in the 200-meter race with a time of 22.91 seconds, which is Bentley’s best time in the event this year. Vatti also placed ninth in the 400 meter race, with a time of 50.84 seconds. Sophomore Gabe Campbell also finished second, in the six-man, 3000-meter steeplechase event, posting a time of 10:11.95.
Other solid performances for Bentley included junior Steve Gendron, who placed fifth in the 5000-meter race with a time of 15:49.47.
In a field of 45 in the two mile, freshman Rob Dextradeur and senior Steve Bergantino were seventh and eighth, respectively, with times of 9:29.91 and 9:30.00. Freshman Craig Robinson posted a ninth-place finish in the 1500-meter event with a personal best time of 4:04.11.
In the field side of the invitational, sophomore Steven Long finished in seventh place out of 31 competitors with a team best for the spring 134 foot, two inches thrust of the discus. Long also heaved the shot put 39 feet, 8.75 inches to capture 11th place in that event.
Sophomore Adam Habansky finished in tenth out of 21 competitors when he speared the sky with his 155 foot, six inch javelin throw.
Sophomore Jim O’Connor rounded out Bentley’s fabulous day with an eighth-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles, out of 22, with a Bentley-seasonal best time of 59.10 seconds. He also placed eighth in the 110 meter hurdle sprint with a time of 16.19 seconds.
On the women’s side, freshmen sprinters/middle distance runners Amy Varsell and Caitlin Fahey have been shining for the Lady Falcons.
At the Raleigh Relays in late March, Varsell set a personal best on the first day of competition in the 100-meter race, posting a time of 13.33 seconds. She also ran a blazing 60.43 seconds in the 400-meter race.
Fahey posted a personal best of 61.96 second in the 400-meter race on the first day of competition. On day two, Fahey continued her improvement by posting a personal best in the 1500-meter race, with a time of 4:58.83, which was good for 43rd place out of 92 runners in the event.
Varsell continued her success in Raleigh by posting a 5:20.42 in the 1500 meter. Senior Barbara Powell also competed in the event, posting a time of 5:25.71 in the event.
Fahey wasn’t done with accomplishments, however. On April 3, Fahey continued her personal best streak by running a personal best 800-meter time of 2:17.57 at the UConn Alumni Invitational, improving her previous best time of 2:20.
Also in the meet, sophomore Maddy McDonnell and freshman Melissa Kimball ran times of 1:02.38 and 1:02.77 in the 400-meter race, respectively. Varsell added to the strong 400 team with a 0:59.93 posted time, which was good for seventh in the 19-person event.
Other season-bests were recorded by sophomore Evelyn Marrero in the 5000 with a time of 5:01.71 and junior Corinne Flieger who hopped five feet, one-half inch in the high jump event.
Bentley continues to be successful in the sport that is least talked about when trying to recruit a student to go to Bentley. Move aside basketball, track is picking up the pace.
Comments on this entry are closed.