March 6, 2010
PHILADELPHIA - Both the men's and women's 4x800 meter relay squads advanced to Sunday's finals at the IC4A and ECAC Championships on Saturday to lead the Explorer track and field team. The championships continue on Sunday at Boston University's Reggie Lewis Track & Field and Athletic Center.
Wendy Hutchinson, Maureen Benner, Caitlin Storbeck and Kellilyn Fierras combined for a 9:05.96 to advance the 4x800 squad into the final. Their time marked the second best time out of all 24 teams in the preliminary and crushed the Explorers' previous season best time of 9:11.99 set at the Atlantic 10 Championship two weeks ago. The final is slated for approximately 3:20 PM on Sunday.
Kasey Gellar, Rashad Little, Sean McClory and Sean Ward also blasted past the Explorers' previous season best by combining for a 7:37.54 on Saturday to qualify for Sunday's final after posting a 7:42.10 at A-10's. The squad placed second in its heat and was seventh out of 23 competing teams. The men's final is set for 2:35 PM on Sunday.
Also leading the way for the Explorers was Meghan Lutz, who ran a personal season-best 17:31.65 in the 5,000 meter run in a race that featured four NCAA provisional times.
Fierras, the Atlantic 10 silver medalist, and Hutchinson represented the Explorers in the 800 meters, finishing back-to-back with times of 2:15.66 and 2:15.91, respectively, in a race that also featured four NCAA provisional times.
Storbeck competed in the 1000 meters where she clocked a 2:56.32 and Samantha Gallagher rounded out the Explorer women with a 5:07.82 in the mile.
On the men's side, the distance medley relay squad of Kasey Gellar, Rashad Little, Sean McClory and Sean Ward combined for a 10:03.80 to finish in the top half of what proved to be a very fast field. Eight of the 26 teams in the race clocked sub-10 minute times, edging toward the NCAA provisional mark and crushing the IC4A qualifying standard.
Little also competed in the 400 where he ran a 48.95, nearly a personal season-best in a race that saw five NCAA provisional qualifiers.
Terence McPeak beat his season best with a 1:53.71 in the 800 meter prelim. His previous season best was a 1:54.19 at the A-10's to earn him the conference's silver medal.
Paul Reilly also ran on Saturday, clocking a 2:29.79 in the 1000 meter preliminary.
The Explorers will wrap up the final day of the IC4A and ECAC Championships on Sunday. Slated to compete are the finals of the 4x800 relays, the men's 5K (Tom Pannulla, Dave Hausherr and Tyler Jones), the women's distance medley relay and the women's 3K (Stephanie Bearish).
