are the captains for the 2003-2004 season.
Holy Cross battled fierce snow and ice on the way to Orono, ME to take on the University of Maine this weekend. Senior Captain Bill Phelan matched his personal best throw of 16.08 meters (52-09.25 feet) to win the weight competition, while fellow senior Dwayne Henclewood exceeded his PR in the weight by an entire foot, throwing 15.10 meters (49-06.50 feet), in his first weight competition of the season. Dave LoBue won the 500m in 1:08.49, while Brendan Kearney won the 800m in a season's best time of 1:57.56. Andrew Stone missed first place by a mere 3/4" in the long jump, leaping to a new PR of 21'10", finishing in 2nd place. Chris Bier set a PR in the hurdles by .12 seconds, running an 8.11. TJ Picanco placed 2nd in the 400m dash in 50.87 and John Nieskens finished 4th in 4:23.91 in the one mile. Full Results can be found here.
Brendan Kearney qualified for the New England Championships in the 800m, running 1:56.85 at BU's FasTrack Invitational. John Nieskens ran a strong 3000m and improved his best time to 8:38.49, while sophomore Tim Murphy ran 4:31.13 in the developmental mile. Full results from the meet can be found here. The Crusaders head to Lewisburg, PA next weekend for the Patriot League Championships, hosted by Bucknell. Last week's Crusader article about the meet in Maine can be found here.
Expectations were high entering this weekend, yet the Crusaders were unable to capitalize on the championship atmosphere at Bucknell. Competition was fierce as Navy joined the league full time this year, and toppled ten-time champion Army. Steve Virgilio scored 4352 points to take 5th place in the heptathlon, while John Nieskens won his heat of the 5000m with a huge PR of about 20 seconds clocking a 15:02.84, winning his heat by 11 seconds, finishing 8th overall. James McKeon also had a great PR of about 9 seconds with a 9:00.81 in the 3000m run. The meet came to a halt Saturday afternoon as the facility suffered a 2 hour blackout before power was restored and the meet was able to continue. Full results of the championship can be found here. The Crusaders hope to bounce back next weekend at BU in the New England Championships, which will feature Dwayne Henclewood (Shot), John Nieskens (5000m), Brendan Kearney (800m), TJ Picanco (500m), and the 4x400m relay squad of Bob Leader, Chris Morris, Shawn David, and TJ Picanco.
The Holy Cross men's cross country team had 10 athletes named to the 2003 Patriot League Men's Cross Country Academic Honor Roll. The 10 member squad represented the fourth highest total of any conference school.
Seniors Randy Brodeur (Lowell, MA), Kevin Higgins (Fairfield, CT), Michael Lucke (Pt. Pleasant Beach, NJ), and Brett McLaughlin (Pittsford, NY) led the way for the Crusaders. Lucke posted the highest GPA on the Crusaders' team with a 3.93 grade point average in Biology.
Junior Sean Dougherty (Yorktown Heights, NY), sophomores Matthew Michienzi (Woburn, MA) and Tim Murphy (Wayne, NJ), and freshmen Andrew Cameron (Pittsfield, MA), Stephen Kress (Portland, ME), and John Ortolani (Williamsville, NY) rounded out the 10 man HC team.
The men's track and field squad competed at the Terrier Cup hosted by Boston University on January 17th. Although the team finished seventh, they took advantage of the great facility and turned in some solid performances.
In the 55-meter dash, freshman Corey Glidden and sophomore Andrew Stone ran well with times of 6.86 and 6.88, respectively. Glidden shined again in the 200-meter dash running to a fifth place with a blistering time of 23.26. The 55-meter hurdles had freshman Christopher Bier running a P.R. coming in at 8.25.
In the 400-meter dash, sophomore Robert Leader ran a Personal Record (P.R.) with a time of 51.14. The 800-meter run saw sophomore Thomas Severo run a solid 2:02.56. Junior Brendan Kearney got the Crusaders another point by placing sixth in the 1000 meter run with a time of 2:34.86. Junior John Nieskens had a huge P.R. in the brutal 3000 meter run by running 8:44.41.
However, the highlight of the day on the track was sophomore Thomas Picanco's 500-meter run. He placed fourth with a New England qualifying time of 1:06.27 smashing his previous P.R.
On the field side, sophomore Daniel Ryan placed third in the high jump with a 6-foot jump. Ryan also placed in the triple jump leaping 39 feet, 11.25 inches and a sixth place finish. Junior Stephen Virgilio pole-vaulted thirteen feet to finish fourth in the competition.
In the throwing events, senior Dwayne Henclewood hit a mark of 48 feet, 7.5 inches in the shot put; the throw placed him fourth. Senior Captain William Phelan placed second in the weight throw with a mark of 50 feet, .75 inches.
Stone said of the meet, "We had a lot of P.R.'s and placed well against some highly competitive teams."
On January 24th, the team traveled to Durham, New Hampshire to compete against the Wildcats of New Hampshire, the Boston College Eagles, the Minutemen of Massachusetts, and the Northeastern Huskies at UNH's Sweet Oval. The Crusaders placed fourth in the meet.
The 55-meter dash proved to be a strong event for the Crusaders as they had three P.R.'s. Glidden placed third for the Crusaders with a preliminary time of 6.80 and a final time of 6.81. Both Stone and sophomore William DiMauro had great days on the track running P.R.'s. Their times were 6.84 and 6.92, respectively. The 55-meter hurdles saw Bier tie his P.R. in the preliminaries with a time of 8.25. In the finals he ran a time of 8.35 that placed third.
In the 200-meter dash, sophomores Christopher Morris and Patrick Jones ran to a third and fourth place finish. Morris' time of 24.27 is extremely impressive given the poor condition of the facility. Jones finished with a time of 24.91. Junior Sean Flood ran the 400-meter dash in 55.16 for fifth (scoring) place finish. Bier finished right behind the Iowan with a sixth (scoring) place time of 55.18.
In the 500 meter run, senior Alex Materna ran a 1:09.45. His time was good for a fifth (scoring) place finish. The 1000-meter run saw Kearney finish fourth with a 2:39.87 run. In the 3000 meter run, Stephen Kress and Edward Hughes placed fifth and sixth (in scoring) with times of 9:31.00 and 9:49.64 respectively.
The 4x400 meter relay team of Picanco, Jones, Glidden, and senior Captain Shawn David took fourth place with a time of 3:35.58.
The field events were a success for the Crusaders with somesolid performances including many P.R.'s in conditions that are not world-class. Ryan jumped 5 feet, 11 inches in the high jump (on a bad ankle) to finish sixth (in scoring) for the Crusaders. In the pole vault, sophomore Thomas Farrelly vaulted 10 feet, 11.75 inches for a sixth (scoring) place. That vault was less than an inch away from his P.R. Virgilio jumped 19 feet, 3.25 inches in the long jump to claim fifth place.
The shot put saw Henclewood and freshman Kyle Nelthorpe place first and third, respectively. The Jamaican threw 48 feet, 11.75 inches while Nelthorpe threw for 45 feet, 1 inch. The weight throw also brought success for the Crusaders as Phelan won with a mark of 50 feet, 8 inches. The highlight for the Crusaders was freshman Nicholas Carr. He had a huge P.R. and placed third with a throw of 42 feet, 10.25 inches.
Jones said of the meet, "The team has really been working hard and been getting in good workouts despite this cold; guys are P.R.-ing everywhere, and it is good to see the work paying off." DiMauro added, "Despite the poor condition of the facility, some guys were able to give excellent performances nonetheless."
The Crusaders will now travel to Northeastern University and the fabulous
Reggie Lewis track to compete against tough competition in the Husky Invitational
on Friday, January 30th.
Click here for full results from the meet, and here for the Patriot League release.
Highlighting the Terrier Cup meet for the Crusaders was TJ Picanco's New England qualifying time of 1:06.27 in the 500m.
Check here for Results.
Pictures of EJ and Murphy from the mile are here.
Complete results can be found here.
Bill Phelan won the weight throw and freshman Nick Carr placed 3rd as well. Check here for Results.
A few pictures of the 4x800 can be found here.