(02-28-09) BOSTON, Mass. - Freshman Kevin Downing won the 200-meter dash at the New England Championships hosted by Boston University on Friday and Saturday, while on the women's side, sophomore Shannon Gagne finished fourth in the 200-meter dash.
As a team, the men finished 17th and the women came in 26th place. A total of 63 schools are eligible to participate in the New England Championships, including institutions from NCAA Division I, II and III.
Downing qualified first in the 200 with a season-best time of 21.63. In the finals, he cut more than two-tenths of a second off of his time to capture the race in a time of 21.41, breaking his school record and automatically qualifying for the national meet. Downing, whose time is the best in NCAA Division II this season, won the race with a considerable amount of cushion as his closest competition finished in 21.92 seconds.
After qualifying for the 200 in a school-record time of 24.48, Gagne lowered the mark to 24.47 in the finals as she finished fourth. That time also automatically qualifies Gagne for the national meet and is the second-fastest time in NCAA Division II this season.
Gagne also competed in the long jump, finishing ninth with a leap of 5.32 meters (17-05.50 feet).
The men also got points from senior Tyrone Sawyer who finished seventh in the 55-meter dash. Sawyer qualified for the finals in a time of 6.52 and ran a season-best 6.45 in the finals.
Other top finishers for the women included Lauren DiMitruck 26th in the one-mile run (5:23.69) and the 4x400-meter relay team of Ayana Myers, Danielle Howell, Alesha Chu Foo and Gagne who finished 15th in a time of 4:01.50.
The men's track and field team returns to action on Saturday, March 7 at the IC4A Championships. Both the men and women will be represented the following weekend at the NCAA Division II Championships.
Meet results - Men
Meet results - Women
