Men's Track and Field
Rams Fifth After Day One Competition at the New England Championships
Feb. 27, 2009
BOSTON, Mass. - The Rhode Island men's track and field team is in fifth place with 15 points after day one competition at the 2009 New England Championships. The meet is being held at the Boston University Track and Tennis Center and will conclude Saturday afternoon.
Sophomore Shunzaburo Kida (Essex Junction, Vt.) highlighted day one competition for Rhody as he finished runner-up in the pole vault with a season-best performance of 16 feet, 2.75 inches. Kida's leap also hit the IC4A qualifying standard.
Teammate John Carstensen (Staten Island, N.Y.) also posted a top 10 finish as he cleared 15-9 to take sixth.
In the weight throw, sophomore Jacob Keeling (Chepachet, R.I.) placed fourth following a toss of 55-4.25.
Preliminary action saw senior Alex Reid (Middletown, N.Y.) and sophomore David Kennedy (Essex Junction, Vt.) qualify for a pair of finals on Saturday. Reid placed fifth in the 55-meter hurdles (7.75) and took ninth in the 200m dash (22.27). His time in the 200 was a season-best. Kennedy finished eighth in the 200m dash (22.27) and third 500m run (1:04.43).
Placing ahead of Kennedy in the 500m was fellow sophomore Nicholas Sanborn (Nashua, N.H.). Sanborn won the event and posted the top time by a Rhody athlete this season as he clocked a time of 1:03.91, which also served as an IC4A qualifying mark.
In the 55m dash, freshman Nicholas Guscott (Baldwin, N.Y.) and senior Jeffery Martins (Providence, R.I.) each qualified for the finals as they ran times of 6.53 (10th) and 6.61 (11th), respectively.
Junior Brian Alexander (North Kingstown, R.I.) and freshman Justin Ellison (West Islip, N.Y.) also qualified for finals action in the 55m hurdles and 1,000 meter run, respectively.
The championships conclude tomorrow with events beginning at 10 a.m.
