University of New Hampshire Athletics
Five Wildcats Qualify for NCAA East Preliminary Championship Meet
5/16/2019 6:56:00 PM | Men's Track & Field, Track and Field, Women's Track & Field
Two members of the women’s team and three members of the men’s team will compete in Jacksonville, Florida.
DURHAM, N.H. – Five athletes from the University of New Hampshire track and field program will be headed to Jacksonville, Florida next week for the NCAA East Preliminary Championship meet spanning from Thursday, May 23 to Saturday, May 25.
The two women athletes competing will be fifth-year senior Danielle Gajewski (Danville, N.H.) in the 800 meter run, and senior Shannon Murdock (Exeter, N.H.) in the 1500 meter. Gajewski and Murdock also qualified together in the summer of 2017.
Gajewski is coming off of her seventh America East individual championship, when she won the outdoor 800m in 2:07.61. It was her fastest finish of the year and qualified her for the NCAA Preliminary Championship meet.
Murdock is coming off a scoring time at the America East Outdoor championships, finishing fourth in the 1500m. Her best time of the season came at the Larry Ellis Invitational on April 20, finishing ninth in the elite 1500 with a time of 4:22.84.
This will be Gajewski's third trip to the NCAA East Prelims, and Murdock's second. As a three-time qualifier, Gajewski joins a long list of three-time qualifiers, including Elinor Purrier '18 (a 4-time qualifier), Laura Rose Donegan '17, Keely Maguire '13, Sydney Fitzpatrick '12, and Erica Jesseman '11.
On the men's side, three Wildcats will make their first appearances in the NCAA East Preliminary Round. Freshman Nate Hobbs (Peabody, Mass.) will compete in the long jump, while seniors Eric Brogioli (Milford, Mass.) and Jon Chapman (Newport, R.I.) will compete in the hammer throw.
Hobbs made history this season for UNH, breaking a 61-year-old school record in the long jump, which also tied an America East conference record, when he won gold in the long jump with a distance of 24'9.75". He then followed that up by becoming the first Wildcat to win the ECAC/IC4A outdoor long jump with a distance of 24'7.75".
The hammer throwers Brogioli and Chapman both scored in the top four of the America East hammer throw, and then went on to set new personal bests at the ECAC/IC4A championships, which qualified them for the prelims. Brogioli's top mark this year came in at 192'4", finishing fourth at ECAC's, and Chapman's new career best mark came in at 192'2".
The Wildcats head to the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida, for the 2019 NCAA East Preliminary Championships next week. For more info and schedule times, check back next week for the full preview.
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Players Mentioned
