Men's Track and Field
URI Captures 2008 Atlantic 10 Outdoor Track & Field Title
May 4, 2008
Complete Results from the A-10 Championship 
AMHERST, Mass. -- The University of Rhode Island men's outdoor track and field team captured its second straight Atlantic 10 team title, taking the 2008 crown this afternoon, held at the Track & Field Complex on the campus of the University of Massachusetts. URI has won seven of the last eight A-10 outdoor championships.
The Rams, with 224 points, bested second-place Charlotte (206). La Salle finished in third place with 136 points, followed by Massachusetts (62), Duquesne (56), Temple (49), Fordham (37), Saint Joseph's (31), Richmond (28), Saint Louis (15) and Xavier (11).
In action on day two of the championship, senior Ryan McCarthy defended his titles in the shot put (52-03.25) and javelin (209-00), while teammate Yudehwheh Gbaa claimed gold in the triple jump (48-1.75) for the second straight year as URI captured the men's crown for the second consecutive season.
McCarthy, who also finished second in the discus on Saturday, became the first-ever three-time recipient of the A-10 Championship's Most Outstanding Field Performer Award.
"We are very pleased to win it and our kids really stepped up. We lost a lot of very talented seniors last year but this year's seniors really carried it on," said Rhode Island head coach John Copeland, who was named Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year for the fifth time.
"Ryan [McCarthy] came to Rhode Island simply as a shot putter and he has learned the javelin, discus and hammer and done very well. He would certainly get my vote."
Michael Bland finished second in the 100m dash, clocking 10.77 seconds. Teammates Brendan Lamboy (11.03) and Michael Russell (11.18) also earned points for the Rams, finishing sixth and eight, respectively.
Three Rhody student-athletes placed in the 110m hurdles and 200m dash. Alex Reid was third in the hurdles, clocking 14.73 seconds. He was followed by Yudehwheh Gbaa in fifth (15.09) and Brian Alexander in eighth (15.62). In the 200m, Reid was fourth (22.21), while David Kennedy was sixth (22.32), and Russell seventh (22.47).
Kennedy finished second in the 400m dash, crossing the finish line in a time of 48.87. Cameron Cormier was sixth (49.14).
Alexander (55.81) and Gbaa (56.53) finished sixth and eighth, respectively in the 400m hurdles, while Nicholas Sanborn earned a seventh place finish in the 800m run (1:53.96). In the jumps, Rhody earned valuable points from Michael Russell in the triple jump (6th, 43-06.50)
James Whelan was second in the decathlon, totalling 5828 points. Manuel Richards was fourth (5637 pts.) and Christopher Miczek seventh (5053 pts.).
In the relays, Rhody was second in the 4x100m (41.66) and fourth in the 4x400m (3:17.17).
The first-team All-Conference consists of the individual winners at the two-day Championship, while the All-Conference second team is made up of the second-place finishers. For complete results of the 2008 Atlantic 10 Men's & Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships, including live audio and video coverage, log on to www.atlantic10.org.
