Track And Field Braves Wind, Cold At Coast Guard Invitational

RESULTS

NEW LONDON, Conn. - Despite battling high winds and cold temperatures, the Babson College track and field teams had another strong performance at the Coast Guard Invitational on Saturday. The Beavers amassed one first-place finish, two program records, one New England qualifier, and numerous personal bests at the event, which saw the women place seventh overall and the men place ninth.

Among Babson's many highlights on the women's side was another brilliant performance by junior captain Lauren Blackburn (York, Maine), who won the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 1:08.68. First-year Nicole Wurdeman (Rowley, Mass.) returned to action to finish third overall in both the shot put and the discus, breaking her own school record in the disc with a toss of 114 feet, 6 inches, while fellow rookie Alexa Untermann (Honolulu, Hawaii) added a fantastic high jump of 4 feet, 11 inches, placing her fourth in the event and qualifying her for the NCAA Division III New England Championships.

Other standout efforts for the women included junior captain Katie Trant (Westfield, Mass.), who placed fifth in the high jump with a leap of 4'9", a personal best throw of 71 feet, 5 inches in the discus by first-year Rachel Licciardi (Andover, Mass.), and a sixth-place performance of 14 feet, 1.75 inches in the long jump by first-year Colleen Carr (Brewer, Maine). Licciardi also placed in the shot put, finishing eighth, while first-year Michelle Black (san Diego, Calif.) added a pair of strong runs in the 800 (2:35.32) and 1500 (5:17.78).

On the men's side, senior captain Kevin Butera (Walpole, Mass.) broke his own Babson record in the triple jump, placing sixth overall with a distance of 41 feet, 7.75 inches. The new mark was one of seven personal bests for the men's squad, four of which came in one event. Leading the charge was senior captain Greg Keshian (North Andover, Mass.), who had an exceptional day with a personal record of 4:16.47 in the 1500 followed by a second-place performance and a PR of 15:51.56 in the 5000 meter run. Keshian then went straight from the 5k to the 4x400 relay, where he helped the Beavers post a 12th-place finish.

Joining Keshian with PRs in the 1500 were first-year Kwami Chambers-Powell (Middletown, Conn.), who ran a 4:35.27, sophomore Mikita Kourtchikov (Brooklyn, N.Y.), who ran a 4:39.88, and sophomore Jordan Bray (Henderson, Nev.), who ran a 4:47.29. First-year Justin Bowman (Andover, Mass.) posted the men's seventh PR of the meet, finishing third overall in the 800 meter run with a time of 1:59.00. Junior Charlie Brown (Bronx, N.Y.) also recorded a third-place finish for the Beavers, posting a time of 17.06 in the 110 meter hurdles.