2008 Woodie Awards
Track and Field: Not outdone by big teams
James Eddy II
Issue date: 3/31/08 Section: Sports
Despite a lack of top results, the men's and women's track and field teams had strong performances at the Florida State Relays Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
The Huskies made their second trip this season to the South, this time going to Tallahassee, Fla., and showed quality performances, though they did not post many top-three finishes.
Northeastern went up against larger Division I schools like Texas A&M, Florida, Florida State and Michigan, and were able to remain competitive. Though his team faced tough competition, head coach Sherman Hart said the Huskies were not intimidated.
Hart said he was particularly impressed with his distance and mid-distance runners. The mid-distance women showed their strength by finishing runner-up to No.4 ranked Michigan in the 4x800-meter relay.
The Huskies finished the meet with only two other top-three finishes, with freshman Annie Scully finishing third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. The other came from junior Kristie Gagnon, who placed second in the 10,000-meter.
Sophomores Jonathan Hall, with a fifth place finish in the 400-meter hurdles, and Jordan Thull, who placed sixth in the pole vault, brought home top placements for the men.
The warm Florida weather - upward of 81 degrees - had an effect on the team as the Huskies made some mistakes, which Hart also attributed to a lack of practice. Senior captain Tramaine Shaw said the greatest challenge for the athletes to overcome wasn't the high temperature, but the humidity.
Overall Hart said he felt his team had a pretty good performance, despite making some small mistakes.
"We blew a hand off in the second leg of the 4x100," he said. "When we blew that hand off we were in second and given the second place time we would have gotten second if we didn't blow that hand off."
It was a strange event, in that the team had its meet at the same time as Florida high schools. The Huskies were unbothered by this, and used the meet as an opportunity to recruit kids to come to Northeastern, Shaw said.
The Huskies made their second trip this season to the South, this time going to Tallahassee, Fla., and showed quality performances, though they did not post many top-three finishes.
Northeastern went up against larger Division I schools like Texas A&M, Florida, Florida State and Michigan, and were able to remain competitive. Though his team faced tough competition, head coach Sherman Hart said the Huskies were not intimidated.
Hart said he was particularly impressed with his distance and mid-distance runners. The mid-distance women showed their strength by finishing runner-up to No.4 ranked Michigan in the 4x800-meter relay.
The Huskies finished the meet with only two other top-three finishes, with freshman Annie Scully finishing third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. The other came from junior Kristie Gagnon, who placed second in the 10,000-meter.
Sophomores Jonathan Hall, with a fifth place finish in the 400-meter hurdles, and Jordan Thull, who placed sixth in the pole vault, brought home top placements for the men.
The warm Florida weather - upward of 81 degrees - had an effect on the team as the Huskies made some mistakes, which Hart also attributed to a lack of practice. Senior captain Tramaine Shaw said the greatest challenge for the athletes to overcome wasn't the high temperature, but the humidity.
Overall Hart said he felt his team had a pretty good performance, despite making some small mistakes.
"We blew a hand off in the second leg of the 4x100," he said. "When we blew that hand off we were in second and given the second place time we would have gotten second if we didn't blow that hand off."
It was a strange event, in that the team had its meet at the same time as Florida high schools. The Huskies were unbothered by this, and used the meet as an opportunity to recruit kids to come to Northeastern, Shaw said.
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