Wildcats Head to NEICAAA Championships Friday and Saturday

Friday, February 1

Boston, Mass.

3 PM

University of New Hampshire

New England Championships

(Photo by Matthew Troisi)

1/31/2019 3:17:00 PM | Women's Track & Field

UNH Track & Field returns to Boston this weekend.

DURHAM, N.H. – The University of New Hampshire women's track & field team continues the indoor season with the New England Inter-Collegiate Amatuer Athletics Association Indoor Track & Field Championships this Friday and Saturday at Northeastern University.

The Wildcats look to continue their training and team-building as the conference championship meet approaches, and will use the New England Championships as an opportunity to get into the championship mentality.

The 'Cats will be led by fifth-year Danielle Gajewski (Danville, N.H.) in the mile run, returning to Boston after competing in last weekend's Terrier Invitational.

UNH will continue to build the team around the newcomers as well, as sophomore Lauren Quann (Pictou, Nova Scotia) returns to action looking for a New England title in the pentathlon. Freshman Sage TuDisco (Haverhill, Mass.) will also see action after coming off two individual wins at the home tri-meet with Maine and Vermont.

MEET INFO:
Dates: Feb. 1-2, 2019
Start Time: Friday – 10 A.M. | Saturday – 10 A.M.
Location: Reggie Lewis Track & Field Center – Boston, Mass.

UP NEXT:
With just four weeks left in the indoor season, the Wildcats wrap-up their non-championship schedule next weekend with the David Hemery Invitational at Boston University next Friday, February 8 and the URI Coaches Tribute meet on Saturday, February 9.

LAST TIME OUT:
Shannon Murdock (Exeter, N.H.) took first place in the mile run at the John Thomas Terrier Invitational, setting a new personal best and winning her second mile run of the season.

Murdock, whom set a new personal best in the mile run at the Boston University season opener, raised that bar again with her first place finish in 4 minutes, 44.73 seconds. The result shaved five seconds off her old personal best, and is good for 12^th in the nation.
Meanwhile at the home tri-meet, he Wildcats saw five individual winners in track events, with new personal bests set and three finishes in one-two fashion.

In the 500m run it was a one-two finish, with senior Jessica Hackett (Dover, N.H.) taking first in 1 minute, 19.53 seconds, and junior Elise Renahan (Atkinson, N.H.) taking second in 1:19.65.

Sophomore Maria Virga (Derry, N.H.) took first in the 200 meter dash, in 26.65 seconds, followed by sophomore Kelly Crawford (Mansfield, Mass.) in second in 26.78 seconds. Virga also took first in the 55 meter hurdles, with a new personal best time of 8.55 seconds.

Junior Brianne Moss (Shrewsbury, Mass.) took first in the 800m run, with a time of 2:25.00.

In the 1000m run, fifth-year Shannon Stang (Medford, N.J.) took first with a time of 3:03.89¸ a new personal best in the event. She was followed closely by junior Madeleine Brandon (Killingworth, Conn.) who took second in 3:04.04.

Freshman Sage TuDisco (Haverhill, Mass.) took first in both the high jump and the long jump. In the high jump she tied with junior transfer Bosibori Mosongo (Indianapolis, Ind.) with a height of 5 feet, 1.75". In the long jump, TuDisco won with a distance of 16'11.5". The runner up in the long jump was junior Kendra Kukulski (Dracut, Mass.) with a distance of 16'6".

FROM THE COACH:
"The New England's has switched from the weekend it usually is, it used to be after conference and used to be in our championship section of the season, and now it's a couple weeks before conference, so we're more in our training session. So it kind of takes on more of a role that it does in cross country; we're working on what we've been working on the whole season in terms of developing in getting better. This is a really young team, last year's team had a lot of seniors, and we're really trying to build this to be as good as we can be late in this season and into the spring season."

Head Coach Robert Hoppler

"Our fifth year senior Dani Gajewski is the top seed in the mile; we've certainly had a lot of tradition in the mile over the years, with athletes like Amy Gosztyla, Anne Twombly, and Elle [Purrier] of course, and Shannon [Murdock] this year. Dani is taking her swing at the mile this weekend and we're excited about that."