Saturday, May 5
Baltimore, M.D.
10 AM
University of New Hampshire
vs
America East Championships
America East Championship Weekend on Deck for the ‘Cats
5/4/2018 5:13:00 PM | Men's Track & Field, Track and Field, Women's Track & Field
DURHAM, N.H. – The University of New Hampshire men's and women's track & field teams travel to Baltimore, Maryland this weekend for the America East Outdoor Track & Field Championships taking place Saturday and Sunday, May 5 and 6.
The Wildcats, who finished runner up in both men's and women's last weekend at the UMass Pre-Conference meet, are looking to kick off the championship season strong. Several Wildcats come into the weekend looking to add to their collection of America East Championships, while some are looking to reach the top of the podium for the first time.
Senior Elinor Purrier (Montgomery, Vt.) returned to action last weekend and was named the America East Female Track Performer of the Week for her performance in the 1500m run. Purrier, a 16-time America East Individual Champion, looks to continue her dominance this weekend, after adding two more titles in the indoor track championships.
The 'Cats have looked to the middle-distance runners for a lot of their recent success, including Meg Champagne (Plattsburgh, N.Y.) and Angelyn Masters (Bangor, Maine) who finished first and second in the pre-conference 5000m run at UMass last weekend. In short-distance and field events, Emma Checovich (Hampton, N.H.) has also dominated the hurdles in recent weeks, most recently taking first at UMass in the 100m hurdles, while Alyssa Colbert (Smithfield, R.I.) has emerged as a force in the javelin throw, also taking first at the pre-conference meet.
Fellow performer of the week., Michael Shanahan (Dover, N.H.) is coming off winning his fourth America East championship in the indoor weight throw, and looks to claim his first hammer throw championship since 2015. Shanahan broke the school record in the hammer throw twice this season, most recently at the UNH Wildcat Invitational, where he threw 227 feet, 5 inches.
The men's track & field team touts a strong group of throwers, as the meet will also feature 2018 America East Indoor shot put champ Zachary Astle (Newbury, N.H.) and a shot put runner up in Nicholas Ritzo (Rye, N.H.), who has been improving in the discus. The Wildcats have also seen strength from their relay teams; most recently, the distance-medley relay team of Brett Hoerner (Manchester, N.H.), Brandon Allen (East Elmhurst, N.Y.), Matthew Adams (Concord, N.H.) and William Ulrich (Mineola, N.Y.) placed second at the Penn Relays to Mississippi State.
MEET INFORMATION:
The events begin Saturday morning at 10 A.M. with the men's decathlon and the men's hammer throw. Saturday features some finals but will see mostly trails in the track events, with their heats taking place throughout the afternoon, their finals on Sunday.
Sunday morning wraps up the decathlon and heptathlon at 9:00 and 9:30 A.M. The remaining field events kick off at 10:30 A.M. and all the track finals kick off at 11 A.M.
Both days will be streamed on AmericaEast.TV.
For a full list of scheduled events, visit America East Championship central.
RANKED IN THE NATION:
Two UNH athletes are ranked in the top 25 in the nation in their events. Elinor Purrier and Michael Shanahan (Dover, N.H.) both rank among the best of the best.
CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY:
Last season at the America East Outdoor Championships, both the men's and women's teams set relay records and finished in the top three.
The Wildcats women's team piled up 140 points and finished runner-up to the University at Albany for the second straight season. Albany had 198 points and has won the last nine league titles.
The relay team ran the 4x800 in a time of 8 minutes, 47.16 seconds, shattering the old mark by more than 10 seconds. The old record of 8:57.80 was set by Stony Brook in 2011. Elinor Purrier is the only returning Wildcat from that relay team to compete in this weekends' meet.
The men's team finished in third after the 2017 outdoor championships with 116 points. Albany won its 13th straight men's meet with 166 points and UMBC was second with 139. UMass Lowell trailed UNH with 108.50 points and Binghamton was fifth with 99.
UNH moved up a couple of spots form its fifth-place finish of a year ago and posted its best result since a third place in 2010, the last time the championship was held here.
The 4x800 relay team featuring returners Brett Hoerner (Manchester, N.H.) and William Ulrich (Mineola, N.Y.) broke the meet record with a time of 7:32.22. The old mark of 7:32.37 was set by the University at Albany in 2009.
Joel Nkounkou (Dover, N.H.) climbed a couple of spots from his fourth-place finish in the decathlon the previous year and piled up a personal best total of 6,547 points. Joe Miceli of Binghamton won the decathlon with 6,760 points.
FROM THE COACH:
"I'm pretty optimistic about what we're doing this season. In some ways we're young, and in other ways we've had a lot of kids who have improved and trained really hard. This is a season where we're focusing on improving, and I think we're a much better track team in right now than we were in March. Significantly better."
-- Coach Robert Hoppler
"Excited to have Elle [Purrier] running in another America East meet. She's won 16 consecutive America East championships. This is her last America East meet; I'm looking forward to seeing her run and compete one more time. Our team pretty much starts there, but I'm also very excited to see the emergence of other key athletes for our team: Alyssa Colbert has really emerged in the throws, [Meg] Champagne, [Madeline] Quigley and [Madeleine] Brandon have been running really well, our high jump trio… And the backbone of this team is the senior class; they've been an important piece of America East runner-up teams over the years."
-- Coach Robert Hoppler
"We're just looking to compete our best. Our strengths are the throws and we know that; We'd like for them to remain strong. But last week at UMass we felt like we had a solid meet, and we'd like to see that same solid team performance again this weekend. We might not score in all the events, but that's certainly the goal: to go down and score in every event. It might be a little hard with some late season injuries, but all we can do is go down and give it our best. That's our team mentality."
-- Coach Jim Boulanger
The Wildcats, who finished runner up in both men's and women's last weekend at the UMass Pre-Conference meet, are looking to kick off the championship season strong. Several Wildcats come into the weekend looking to add to their collection of America East Championships, while some are looking to reach the top of the podium for the first time.
Senior Elinor Purrier (Montgomery, Vt.) returned to action last weekend and was named the America East Female Track Performer of the Week for her performance in the 1500m run. Purrier, a 16-time America East Individual Champion, looks to continue her dominance this weekend, after adding two more titles in the indoor track championships.
The 'Cats have looked to the middle-distance runners for a lot of their recent success, including Meg Champagne (Plattsburgh, N.Y.) and Angelyn Masters (Bangor, Maine) who finished first and second in the pre-conference 5000m run at UMass last weekend. In short-distance and field events, Emma Checovich (Hampton, N.H.) has also dominated the hurdles in recent weeks, most recently taking first at UMass in the 100m hurdles, while Alyssa Colbert (Smithfield, R.I.) has emerged as a force in the javelin throw, also taking first at the pre-conference meet.
Fellow performer of the week., Michael Shanahan (Dover, N.H.) is coming off winning his fourth America East championship in the indoor weight throw, and looks to claim his first hammer throw championship since 2015. Shanahan broke the school record in the hammer throw twice this season, most recently at the UNH Wildcat Invitational, where he threw 227 feet, 5 inches.
The men's track & field team touts a strong group of throwers, as the meet will also feature 2018 America East Indoor shot put champ Zachary Astle (Newbury, N.H.) and a shot put runner up in Nicholas Ritzo (Rye, N.H.), who has been improving in the discus. The Wildcats have also seen strength from their relay teams; most recently, the distance-medley relay team of Brett Hoerner (Manchester, N.H.), Brandon Allen (East Elmhurst, N.Y.), Matthew Adams (Concord, N.H.) and William Ulrich (Mineola, N.Y.) placed second at the Penn Relays to Mississippi State.
MEET INFORMATION:
The events begin Saturday morning at 10 A.M. with the men's decathlon and the men's hammer throw. Saturday features some finals but will see mostly trails in the track events, with their heats taking place throughout the afternoon, their finals on Sunday.
Sunday morning wraps up the decathlon and heptathlon at 9:00 and 9:30 A.M. The remaining field events kick off at 10:30 A.M. and all the track finals kick off at 11 A.M.
Both days will be streamed on AmericaEast.TV.
For a full list of scheduled events, visit America East Championship central.
RANKED IN THE NATION:
Two UNH athletes are ranked in the top 25 in the nation in their events. Elinor Purrier and Michael Shanahan (Dover, N.H.) both rank among the best of the best.
- Purrier's time in the 1500 placed her at 24th in the nation last weekend; her current standing is 29th.
- Shanhan's record-setting throw in the hammer at the Wildcat Invitational was good for 12th. Currently, Shanahan's distance is currently 14th in the nation.
CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY:
Last season at the America East Outdoor Championships, both the men's and women's teams set relay records and finished in the top three.
The Wildcats women's team piled up 140 points and finished runner-up to the University at Albany for the second straight season. Albany had 198 points and has won the last nine league titles.
The relay team ran the 4x800 in a time of 8 minutes, 47.16 seconds, shattering the old mark by more than 10 seconds. The old record of 8:57.80 was set by Stony Brook in 2011. Elinor Purrier is the only returning Wildcat from that relay team to compete in this weekends' meet.
The men's team finished in third after the 2017 outdoor championships with 116 points. Albany won its 13th straight men's meet with 166 points and UMBC was second with 139. UMass Lowell trailed UNH with 108.50 points and Binghamton was fifth with 99.
UNH moved up a couple of spots form its fifth-place finish of a year ago and posted its best result since a third place in 2010, the last time the championship was held here.
The 4x800 relay team featuring returners Brett Hoerner (Manchester, N.H.) and William Ulrich (Mineola, N.Y.) broke the meet record with a time of 7:32.22. The old mark of 7:32.37 was set by the University at Albany in 2009.
Joel Nkounkou (Dover, N.H.) climbed a couple of spots from his fourth-place finish in the decathlon the previous year and piled up a personal best total of 6,547 points. Joe Miceli of Binghamton won the decathlon with 6,760 points.
FROM THE COACH:
"I'm pretty optimistic about what we're doing this season. In some ways we're young, and in other ways we've had a lot of kids who have improved and trained really hard. This is a season where we're focusing on improving, and I think we're a much better track team in right now than we were in March. Significantly better."
-- Coach Robert Hoppler
"Excited to have Elle [Purrier] running in another America East meet. She's won 16 consecutive America East championships. This is her last America East meet; I'm looking forward to seeing her run and compete one more time. Our team pretty much starts there, but I'm also very excited to see the emergence of other key athletes for our team: Alyssa Colbert has really emerged in the throws, [Meg] Champagne, [Madeline] Quigley and [Madeleine] Brandon have been running really well, our high jump trio… And the backbone of this team is the senior class; they've been an important piece of America East runner-up teams over the years."
-- Coach Robert Hoppler
"We're just looking to compete our best. Our strengths are the throws and we know that; We'd like for them to remain strong. But last week at UMass we felt like we had a solid meet, and we'd like to see that same solid team performance again this weekend. We might not score in all the events, but that's certainly the goal: to go down and score in every event. It might be a little hard with some late season injuries, but all we can do is go down and give it our best. That's our team mentality."
-- Coach Jim Boulanger
Players Mentioned
Mid Dist.
/ Men's Track & Field
Sprints
/ Men's Track & Field
Throws
/ Men's Track & Field
Distance
/ Women's Track & Field
Multi Events
/ Women's Track & Field
Throws
/ Women's Track & Field
Distance
/ Men's Track & Field
Distance
/ Women's Track & Field
Jumps
/ Men's Track & Field
Distance
/ Women's Track & Field
Throws
/ Men's Track & Field
Throws
/ Men's Track & Field
Mid-Distance
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