By Cullen McIntyre, Sports Editor
USM’s Men’s Indoor Track & Field team won their fifth Little Eastern Conference Championship for the fifth year in a row. Since 2009, Men’s Indoor Track & Field has won eight of the 10 conference championships, not winning in 2012 and 2014.
The team travelled to Plymouth State University for the Conference meet on Feb. 16, going on to score 231 points as a team, beating out second place Plymouth State who scored 99 points. The Huskies would win eight individual titles, and one relay as they dominated their way through the meet.
Senior sprinter Jared Marshall, exercise science major, won titles in three events, the 60-meter dash, 60-meter hurdles and the 200 meters. Marshall found continued success throughout the season, being named LEC Track Athlete of the Week four times this season, and continued his dominance at the conference meet. The Gloucester, MA native broke records in all of his events, setting meet and LEC records in all of them.
The Huskies had two other record breakers on the team, senior pole vaulter Ron Helderman, biochemistry major, who won the event breaking the LEC and facility record 4.88 meters, breaking his own record that he set in 2016 of 4.60 meters. The other record breaker was sophomore Zach Hoyle, history major, in the 800-meter with a time of 1:55.51, setting an LEC and facility record.
The other individual winners included junior Donivyn Harms, sports management major, who won the 400-meter with a time of 51:34. Sophomore Masho Gebremikael, athletic training major, won the 5,000 meter with a time of 15:57.31, and sophomore Ben Musese won the triple jump with 14.04 meters.
The relay team that would go on to win was the 4×400-meter relay, which included junior Cam Labrie, Exercise Science major, senior Justin Pierce, Sports Management major, and junior C.J Moody, Nursing major, with a time of 3:30.45. The Huskies would also place second in the 4×200 and 4×800-meter relays.
Following the meet, Marshall and Helderman were announced as recipients of the LEC Track Athlete of the Week and the LEC Field Athlete of the Week. Helderman was named as the Field Athlete of the Week for the third straight time, and the fifth time this season. Both capped off outstanding senior years at USM and will look to continue their success in further meets.
The Men’s Indoor Track & Field team has constantly succeeded this season, having earned themselves the tenth rank nationally in Division III. The team will get a chance to continue their success at the NCAA Division III Championships on Friday, March 8 and Saturday, March 9.