By Nick Rosa
The CCSU men’s track and field team won the Northeast Conference Championship for the first time in school history this past weekend in Maryland.
After the men were ranked fourth coming into NECs, the team came out victorious despite having other competitors such as Sacred Heart and LIU ranked in front of them.
The team finished with a combined total of 114 points, only five ahead of second place Sacred Heart who finished with 109 points and LIU a close third with 108 points.
Sophomore Aaron Radden was named the NEC’s most valuable performer and received most outstanding track performer honors for the second consecutive year.
Freshman Denzell Jones was named NEC most outstanding rookie after winning the high jump and placing third in the triple jump.
The Blue Devils came into the final event of the meet leading Sacred Heart by only eight points. The team of Shawn Buchanan, Legairre Radden, Aaron Radden and Dan Hopper finished the 4-by-400 in 3:23.87, helping land a fourth place finish and five points, which clinched the Blue Devils the team championship.
Radden won the 60 meter in 6.89 seconds and the 200 meter in 21.75 for the second consecutive year, which helped him tie up the MVP awards once again.
Jones won the high jump earning 10 points for the Blue Devils with a jump of 6 feet 10.75 inches. Matt Berube added to the total score by earning six points in a third place finish with a jump of 6 feet 7 inches.
Berube and Jones teamed up again in the triple jump with Jones finishing third and Berube finishing fifth. Jones jumped 45 feet 5.25 inches and Berube had a jump of 45 feet .05 inches.
Junior Rashad Williams finished third in the weight throw with his best toss of 56 feet 9.25 inches. Williams had finished fourth in the shot put as well with a throw of 53 feet 5 inches.
Jeremy Schmid won the NEC title in the one-mile run with a time of 4:18.08 earning 10 points for the team, while Mohamed Hrezi took third in that race with a time of 4:18.74 earning the Blue Devils an extra six points.
CCSU earned points from a pair of runners in the 400 meters. Legairre Radden finished second with a time of 50.23 and Nick Lindblom finished seventh with a time of 51.34 seconds.
Dan Hopper ended up grabbing six points for his third place finish in the 500 meter run with a time of 1:05.88.
Hrezi and Mike Waterbury grabbed some points in the 800 meters grabbing seventh and eighth with times of 1:56.94 for Hrezi and 1:57.51 for Waterbury.
In the 5,000 meter run Sam Alexander earned eight points for the team and Luke Albertson earned a point for his eighth place finish. Alexander ran 15:01.88 and Albertson ran a 15:22.99. Alexander also finished third in the 3,000 meter run with a time of 8:34.04.
The distance medley relay team of Robert Weston, Bud Ryan, Hrezi and Schmid earned seventh place points for their time of 10:23.21.
The young Blue Devil team managed to reach the championship spot after being ranked eleventh in the conference three years ago. The indoor championship is the second win for the Blue Devil runners this year after they had taken the top spot in cross country this past fall.
The Blue Devils look to continue their hot streak at the New England Championships Feb. 25.