BOSTON, Mass. – After opening up their indoor season back in December and putting in all their hard work at all the meets, it all came down to this weekend as the University of New Haven Men's and Women's Track teams traveled to Boston to compete for a conference crown at the NE10 Championships at the Track at New Balance.
Kenneth Holland (Circleville, N.Y./Pine Bush) claimed the blue and gold's first gold medal of the championships in the sand pit. Entering the meet Holland ranked third overall with a seeded mark of 6.71m but that mark would not last long. Holland opened up with a jump of 6.27m and improved his mark on each of his next four jumps. Ahead of his final jump, needed a mark above seven meters to jump into the top three and he did just that soaring to a mark of 7.11m taking the gold medal and winning for the Chargers. Holland's mark was .02m shy of the NCAA provisional mark. In the event, Holland led the way as five other Chargers scored points in the event.
The field success continued for the blue and gold as Jimmy Oreste (Jamaica, N.Y.) claimed the Charger's second medal on the first day of competition. Orsete in the weight throw stayed consistent with his first two throws before he found extra strength increasing his mark before finishing with a monster throw of 17.42m that jumped him into second place claiming the silver medal.
Jordany Dely (Spring Valley, N.Y./Paramus Catholic) claimed the Charger's second gold medal of the championships in his event that he had dominated all season. Entering with the best time in the conference, Dely showed why he was the best in the 60m Hurdles when he ran the fastest time of qualifying crossing in 8.17 and advancing to the finals on Saturday. In the finals with the bar set, Dely beat his prelim time by .03 and set the pace for the field crossing with the best time of 8.14 and taking home the gold.
Jalynn McCown (Guilford, Conn./Guilford) claimed the women's first medal in the weight throw needing just two throws. After an opening mark of 14.01m, McCown found her release on her second throw landing a mark of 14.75m and claiming the silver medal for the Chargers.
Joshua Stewart (Madison, Conn./Hand) took home the bronze medal in the 60m dash-climbing up the final leader board, after running the seventh fastest time in qualifying. Stewart crossed with a time of 7.09 in the prelims on Friday and came back on Saturday shaving .08 off his prelim time, crossing in 7.01 finishing third overall, and beating teammate Jason Lorent (Shelton, Conn./Shelton) who finished fourth overall in the event.
The men's 4x400m relay team of Nathaniel Peters (Stoughton, Mass./Stoughton), Nile Colson (Rochester, N.Y./Aquinas Institute), Jordany Dely (Spring Valley, N.Y./Paramus Catholic), and Christopher Gregory took home the silver medal crossing with a time of 3:20.30.
With already one medal in the sand pit, the Chargers looked for more as Saturday brought the triple jump where the blue and gold led the way and looked to command the event. Matthew Steele (North Kingstown, R.I./Bishop Hendricken) led the charge taking the gold in the event with his winning jump coming on his second attempt where he jumped 14.20m. The competition was against his own teammates as the Chargers swept the podium and all but four of the 39 possible points for the event. Jackson Marescot (Spring Valley, N.Y./Ramapo) came close to Steele on his second to last jump where he landed a mark of 14.16m to take home silver. Kenneth Holland (Circleville, N.Y./Pine Bush) took the bronze medal to add to his gold from the long jump with his mark of 14.16m on his final jump. Jacky Marescot (Spring Valley, N.Y./Ramapo) finished fourth with a mark of 13.76m, Dely finished fifth with a mark of 13.67m, and Luis Calderon () finished seventh earning two points with his mark of 12.98m.
The women's 4x400m relay team of Niquelle Johnson (Trumbull, Conn./Northeastern Academy), Deja Harris, Micaela Owen (New Haven, Conn./Wilbur Cross), and Kalaya Fitch (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial), took home silver in the event crossing with a time of 4:03.82.
Gabrielle Teel (Willow Grove, Pa./Upper Moreland) took home the win in the triple jump where she needed only two jumps. After an opening mark of 11.58m Teel followed that up by jumping 12.20m competing against herself in the event as the second place mark was 10.88m and Teel never jumped less than 11.43m. With the gold medal, Teel claimed New Havens's third medal.
Overall the men finished with three gold medals, three silver medals, and two bronze medals as a team scoring 152.50 points to finish second overall in the Championships. On the women's side, the Chargers claimed three medals, one gold and two silvers scoring 70.75 points overall and finishing fourth overall in the championships. Overall New Haven returns home with 11 total medals to add to their collections. The season isn't over yet as the blue and gold return to the track next week competing at the SCSU Last Chance Meet on Friday, February 23 with New England two weeks out and the Chargers looking to keep keep their stride. All updates, schedules, and post-match recaps for the team will be available at Newhavenchargers.com.
