FITCHBURG, Mass. – The Southern Vermont College outdoor track & field team saw a tremendous amount of success Saturday at Fitchburg State University's Jim Sheehan Memorial with the Mountaineers seeing a slew of individual and program bests in their second meet of the season.
Of the 17 SVC results turned in, 11 went for new personal records while five were good enough to set top school marks. Two of those program bests surpassed previous records while the other three were from the first-ever participation by a Mountaineer in the respective discipline.
Additionally, Southern Vermont saw seven of its student-athletes have top-15 placements including freshman Isaiah Backels (Derry, N.H.) who won the pole vault to register the team's first-ever individual victory in a field event.
SVC is back in action next Saturday, April 9 at the Smith College Invitational in Northampton, Mass.
Backels launched himself over the bar set at 3.80 meters to beat out the rest of the field by .15 meters, setting a new SVC program record by being the first Mountaineer to compete in the pole vault.
Sophomore Patrick McGovern (Cheshire, England) completed the men's 200 meter dash in a time of 23.99 seconds, placing fourth overall with a mark that topped the previous Southern Vermont record by .78 seconds. Backels also participated in the sprint, coming just .05 seconds behind his personal best that he set a week earlier.
Mountaineer sophomore shot putter Danielle Simmons (Rensselaer, N.Y.) had a long push of 9.03 meters, surpassing her own previous SVC record by .4 meters to place ninth overall on Saturday. Classmate Tanisha Wright (Brooklyn, N.Y.) also bested her old personal mark in the event, throwing the shot 6.47 meters to set a new PR by .57 meters.
Bennington College sophomore Annika Kristiansen (Keene, N.H.) turned in the first-ever Southern Vermont entry in the women's 10000 meter run, placing sixth overall with a time of 42:46.94.
SVC freshman Morgan Arleth (Berlin, Vt.) became the first Mountaineer to run the women's 200 meter dash, setting the school record at 33.76 seconds. She was followed in the same heat by junior teammate Victoria Cotter (Yonkers, N.Y.) who saw her first collegiate track & field action, setting a personal best in the sprint with a mark of 36.97 seconds.
Junior captain Shelby Whitman (Bennington, Vt.) led Southern Vermont in the women's 800 meter run, coming in with a time of 2:43.90 to be just under six seconds off her personal record in the event that she set last season. Arleth took to the track in the second heat of the run, finishing at 3:04.75 to be 4.5 seconds ahead of the initial personal-best time that she posted at last week's meet. Whitman also competed in the women's 1500 meter run, placing 11th overall with a time of 5:25.02 that was just 2.3 seconds behind her personal record.
Senior captain Cameron Michael Curtiss (Milton, Vt.) set a pair of personal records on Saturday, one being in the men's 800 meter run as he finished at 14th overall with a time of 2:12.69-- .41 seconds faster than his previous best. He also completed the men's 1500 meter run at 4:30.79, coming in 3.37 seconds faster than he ever had before in the event to register the 10th-fastest time in the Memorial.
SVC junior Aden Fischer (Arlington, Vt.) and Alexander Ging (Simsbury, Conn.) of Bennington also both competed in the men's 800 and 1500 meter runs. Fischer crossed the line in the 800 with a 2:17.84 showing, just three seconds behind his PR and 4.6 seconds faster than he posted in last week's run, and finished the 1500 at 4:49.19. Ging's 800 was his first time in the event, setting his personal bar at a mark of 2:26.39 while he completed the 1500 at 5:02.02, just 5.7 seconds behind the PR that he set last week.
To see a full list of results from Saturday, please visit: http://svcathletics.com/sports/otrack/2015-16/files/Results_Jim_Sheehan_2016.htm.
SOUTHERN VERMONT RESULTS
Women's 200 Meter Dash
Morgan Arleth: 33.76 (SR)
Victoria Cotter: 36.97 (PR)
Women's 800 Meter Run
Shelby Whitman: 2:43.90
Morgan Arleth: 3:04.75 (PR)
Women's 1500 Meter Run
Shelby Whitman: 11th – 5:25.02
Women's 10000 Meter Run
Annika Kristiansen: 6th – 42:46.94 (SR)
Women's Shot Put
Danielle Simmons: 9th – 9.03 M (SR)
Tanisha Wright: 6.47 M (PR)
Men's 200 Meter Dash
Patrick McGovern: 4th – 23.99 (SR)
Isaiah Backels: 24.82
Men's 800 Meter Run
Cameron Michael Curtiss: 14th – 2:12.69 (PR)
Aden Fischer: 2:17.84
Alexander Ging: 2:26.39 (PR)
Men's 1500 Meter Run
Cameron Michael Curtiss: 10th – 4:30.79 (PR)
Aden Fischer: 4:59.19
Alexander Ging: 5:02.02
Men's Pole Vault
Isaiah Backels: 1st – 3.80 M (SR)
PR = Personal Record, SR = SVC Record