Women’s Track Captures America East Championship

The Boston University women’s indoor track and field team captured itsfourth straight America East Championship on Saturday, February 21, at the BU Trackand Tennis Center. Senior Andrea Walkonen was named the meet’s Most Outstanding Track Performer, while freshman Shelby Walton earned Most Outstanding Rookie honors.

The Terriers became the first team since 1996 to win a fourthconsecutive conference crown. They have now won 11 titles in the 20-yearhistory of the conference championship. BU won five events on thesecond day of competition to overcome a first-day deficit and pace thefield with 158.5 points. Albany was second with 141.5 points, followedby New Hampshire (120), Vermont (92), Maine (73), Binghamton (61), UMBC(57), Stony Brook (54), and Hartford (21).

Walton captured the America East title in the 55-meter dashwith a 7.10 and finished third in the 200-meter dash at 24.75. Walton wasthe second straight Terrier to win the 55-meter dash after Whitney Ford won the event last year. Senior Erin Catarius was fifth in the 55-meter dash (7.22) and sixth in the 200-meter dash (25.03), qualifying for the ECAC Championship in both events.

After setting a school record in the 5,000 meters on the first day ofcompetition, Walkonen won the 3,000-meter run in 9:25.69, 29 seconds aheadof her nearest competitor, to capture the event for BU for the secondyear in a row. Also scoring in the event was senior Mollie Zapata (10:04.94) in fifth and freshman Katie Matthews (10:13.63) in seventh.

Sophomore Karly Neveu defended her title in the high jump, clearing 1.63 meters. Ford was second in the triple jump, leaping 12.33 meters.

Senior Becky Marshburnbecame the first Terrier since 2003 to win the 500-meter dash, qualifyingfor ECACs in the process with a season-best 1:14.02. Marshburn alsoplaced fifth in the 55-meter hurdles, posting an 8.45.

Senior Katie Weider won the 800-meter run with an ECAC-qualifying 2:12.16. She was the first BU athlete to win the event since 2005.

Sophomore Laura Martin (25.02) and freshman Jackie Dim(25.12) also qualified for ECACs in the 200-meter dash, finishing fifth andeighth, respectively. Dim finished second in the 400-meter dash in 57.11 andsophomore Amanda Howard was fourth with a mark of 57.99.

Junior Sarah Mosser was the runner-up in the 1,000-meter run, posting a 2:52.56

BU was third in the 4×400-meter relay, with Marshburn, Dim, Howard, and senior Edwina Clark crossing in 3:50.27.

The Terrier coaching staff, director of track and field Robyne Johnson, assistant track director Bruce Lehane, and assistant coaches Gabe Sanders and Mike Delgado, was honored as the Coaching Staff of the Year.

The Terriers are back in action next weekend, hosting the NewEngland Championship on Friday and Saturday, February 27 and 28, at the Trackand Tennis Center.

Men finish fifth at America East championship

Senior David Proctorhelped the Boston University men’s indoor track and field team win twoevents at the America East Championship on Saturday at the BU Track andTennis Center. The Terriers finished in fifth place with 57 points asAlbany won its fourth straight conference title.

The Great Danes tallied 211 points to win the meet, followed byBinghamton (138 points), New Hampshire (133), UMBC (123), and BU.Trailing the Terriers were Maine (42.5), Vermont (38), Stony Brook (34),and Hartford (3.5).

Proctor won his second America East indoor title in the mile run, pacing the field with a 4:02.47. Junior David Polgar was sixth in the event, finishing in 4:17.48.

Proctor was also a part of BU’s winning 4×800-meter relay team, teaming with sophomore Ken Haltom, freshman Balint Horvath, and junior Jeff Moreau to set a meet record with a 7:34.90.

Horvath (1:53.18) and Moreau (1:53.89) were second and third,respectively, in the 800-meter run. Haltom was third in the 1,000-meter run,posting a 2:25.84.

Sophomore Dan Withrow was the runner-up in the shot put, qualifying for the IC4A Championship with a throw of 15.84 meters.

The Terriers 4×400-meter relay team posted a sixth-place finish, with freshman Matt Pereira, junior Max Esposito, sophomore Mike Zimmerman, and junior Mark Mazzochette clocking in at 3:22.93.

The Terriers are back in action next weekend, hosting the New EnglandChampionship on Friday and Saturday, February 27 and 28, at the Track andTennis Center.