Women’s Track And Field Sets Four School Records At IC4As

Patrick Gustavson, Sports Editor

Thirteen members of the Central Connecticut men’s and women’s track team returned to Boston University over the weekend to take on the IC4A/ECAC Championships, which saw multiple Blue Devils advance to the finals in their respective events and four school records were broken.

Things got off to a strong start on Friday when senior McKenna Killian set a new school record in the Pentathlon, a record she previously held, thanks to a 3,511-point performance.

Killian also set a new personal best in two portions of the Pentathlon. In the high jump, she leaped 1.66 meters, good enough for a second-place finish in that portion. She also ran 60-meter hurdles in 9.33 seconds, also a personal best.

But the breaking of school records did not end on Friday, as two more members of the women’s team etched their name in the CCSU record books on Saturday.

Senior Sierra Nesmith’s time of 55.30 seconds in the 400-meter dash was not only a new personal best, but it also edged out the 15-year school record set by now assistant coach Nicole Dumpson.

Nesmith was not done setting school records. On Sunday in the triple jump, Nesmith leaped 11.86, breaking the record previously set by herself.

The final of the Lady Blue Devil trio to break a school record was senior Dawn Hubbell, who beat the previous record in the 5,000-meter run by 18 seconds.

“Pretty amazing weekend with the four school records. Great way to end the indoor season for the three seniors,” head coach Eric Blake said of the trio’s performances.

Junior Hailey Rospierski also competed on the women’s side, running the 60-meter hurdles in 9.13 seconds.

On the men’s side, junior Richard Grudzwick qualified for the 800-meter finals with a time of 1:50.03 on Saturday. The next day, he captured a second-place finish thanks to a time of 1:51.86.

Blake commended Grudzwick’s performance, calling it “impressive.”

“He made a move for the win and came up a tad short but that’s racing. We are looking forward to his outdoor season,” Blake said.

The other Blue Devil to advance to finals was fellow junior Quincy Sanchez. He finished the 60-meter hurdles in 8.25 seconds, nearly identical to his qualifying performance on Saturday. This was good enough for a ninth-place finish on the event.

Junior Marquis Ward also competed on Sunday in the triple jump with a leap of 13.59 meters. Classmate Kevorni Welsh competed in the long jump on Saturday, with a leap of 6.8 meters.

Sophomore Myles Fye-Moore, who just qualified for the event at last week’s BU Last Chance, ran the 200-meter dash in 22.08 seconds.

Rounding out the group of competing Blue Devils was the 4×400-meter relay team of Akiel Smith, Jack St. Clair, Darius Wise, and Jason Walton. It was the first time the team competed in the event since 2015. The foursome finished the event with a time of 3:21.09.

The meet concludes the indoor season for the Blue Devils. Blake said the season was filled with positives, including this weekends’ meet.

They will now move on to the outdoor season, which Blake says they are looking forward to.

“Outdoors also brings events that are not competed indoors and we are really strong in those events which includes 400 hurdles, steeplechase, 10k and javelin,” Blake said.

They will even host the NEC meet in early May.