Track and Field Opens With Strong Showing At Northeastern

RESULTS

DEDHAM, Mass. -- The Babson College track and field teams opened their 2009 season at the non-scoring Husky Spring Opener at Northeastern University on Saturday, where the Beavers had one event winner, two school record breakers, and two New England Division III qualifiers.

First-year Justin Bowman (Plymouth, Mass.) celebrated his collegiate track and field debut with a magnificent performance in the 800 meters, as he finished first out of 37 Division I, II, and III competitors with a time of 1:59.43. Senior captain Greg Keshian (North Andover, Mass.) also ran well, placing 14th with a time of 33:45.18 in the 10,000 meter run, qualifying him for the NCAA Division III New England Championships. It marked the second regional qualification of Keshian's career, as he joined Chris Perry and Sherwin Parkhurst as the only three men in program history to qualify in the 10,000 in multiple seasons.

Other highlights for the men included two huge PRs for first-year Mike Smith (Brockton, Mass.), who posted a time of 16:28.83 in the 5000 meter run, and sophomore Jordan Bray (Henderson, Nev.), who cut eight seconds off his previous best with a 4:51.37 in the 1500 meter run. Senior captain Kevin Butera (Walpole, Mass.) added a ninth-place finish in the long jump (19'2.5") and a sixth-place performance in the triple jump (41'2.5"), junior Charlie Brown (Bronx, N.Y.) placed seventh in the 110 meter hurdles (16.93), and first-year Varun Bhandari (Andover, Mass.) added a 14th-place effort in the 200 meter dash (24.05) in his first collegiate meet.

The women's team was led by first-year thrower Nicki Wurdeman (Rowley, Mass.), who set a pair of records and qualified for regionals in her collegiate debut. She placed ninth overall and broke the Babson record in the shot put with a toss of 33 feet, 8.5 inches, and then finished eighth, set a new program mark, and qualified for the NCAA Division III New England Championships with a throw of 114 feet, 2 inches in the discus.

Also performing well for the Babson women were sophomore Larina Kleynerman (Sudbury, Mass.), who finished fourth in the 200 meter dash with a time of 27.87 and ninth in the 100 meter dash with a run of 13.70, and junior captain Lauren Blackburn (York, Maine), who placed sixth in the 400 meters with a time of 1:04.62 and ninth in the 100 meter hurdles with a mark of 18.13. Blackburn's 400 meter time was the second fastest in Babson history behind her own school record of 1:02.79 set at the same event two years ago.