Men's Track and Field
Rams Capture First Place in Mega Meet
Feb. 1, 2008
KINGSTON, R.I. - The University of Rhode Island men's indoor track & field team captured first-place at the 2008 URI Mega Meet Friday evening at Mackal Field House on the campus of URI. The Rams finished with a total of 271.50 points, well ahead of second-place UMass, which finished with 144.50 points. UMass placed third (117 points), followed by Bryant and Quinnipiac (30 points each), Rhode Island College (23), and American International College (10).
Sophomore Michael Bland (Long Branch, N.J.) won the 55m dash in 6.38 seconds while classmate Michael Russell (Preston, Conn.) placed third with a time of 6.54 seconds. Russell did finish first in the long jump with a score of 22-09.00, followed by freshman Shuuzabaio Kida (Essex Junction, Vt.) in second (21-10.75) and junior Shawn Leonard (Stoughton, Mass.) in third (21-07.25).
In the 55m hurdles, senior Yudehwheh Gbaa (Providence, R.I.) placed first with a time of 7.65 while junior Alexander Reid (Middletown, R.I.) was second with a mark of 7.77. Gbaa also won the triple jump (48-08.75) while freshman Dean Tancreti (Hartland 4 Corners, Vt.) placed second (42-11.50).
In the 200m dash, freshman David Kennedy (Essex Junction, Vt.) captured first-place with a time of 22.59. Later, he won the 400m dash in 50.27 seconds. Senior Michael Bernardo (South Attleboro, Mass.) also picked up a first-place finish as he won the weight throw with a score of 58-04.75. Classmate Ryan McCarthy (Worcester, Mass.) was second (55-02.75) while sophomore Derek Peterson (Northwood, N.H.) was third (51-05.75). McCarthy went on to place first in the shot put (54-06.00) with sophomore Tyler Adams (Newport, R.I.) placing second (49-10.50).
Leonard and freshman Steve Lally (Lincoln, R.I.) finished 1-2 in the high jump as Leonard jumped 6-06.25 while Lally recorded a jump of 6-04.25.
In the pole vault, senior Sean Strizzi (Latham, N.Y.) took the top spot with a score of 15-09.00. Kida was second with a vault of 14-06.00, which was the same score as junior John Carstensen (Staten Island, N.Y.).
Senior Thomas Barek (Portsmouth, R.I.) finished second in the 800m run with a time of 1:58.98. Freshman Manuel Richards (Fair Haven, Vt.), meanwhile, took second in the 500m run with a time of 1:07.44.
The Rams distance medley relay team `A' finished second with a time of 10:55.85 while their `A' 4x400m relay team placed third in 3:32.17. They return to action on Friday, February 8 when they travel to Boston, Mass. to compete in the Valentines Classic, which begins at 10 a.m.
