Southern Connecticut men and UMass women emerged at team winners at the NEICAAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships held at Bryant University in
Smithfield RI on May 13-14. Excellent seasonal weather with minimal wind led to high level performances, seasonal and personal bests, and five meet records.
After a Covid-limited meet in 2021, the championships returned to full fields and wide participation as 40 men's and 46 women's teams appeared in the team scoring. Southern dominated the men's results, scoring 170.5 points, with Rhode Island (114) and UMass (52) earning the silver and bronze team plaques. The women's scoring was a different story, as the top 3 teams were within 7 points with two events remaining; with a
second in the shot and a win in the 4x400, UMass led the scoring at the finish with Rhode Island second and Quinnipiac third.
The first of two women's records was set in the 100 Hurdles when Harvard's Jada Jones clocked 13.36 in Friday's trials to break the old
mark by .26 seconds (and Trinity Smith of RI also bettered the old record in the finals). On Saturday, Emma Vassen of Yale spun the discus 51.59m/169'3" to extend the previous record by over a meter.
All three men's records were recorded by Southern Connecticut competitors; Jordan Davis led off with a 71.83m/235'8" javelin throw, allowed by Turner Kelly's 19.67m/64'6.5" toss in the shot put, and
closing with a 10.34 100 meter dash by Nigel Green (who missed the 200m meet best by just .04 and anchored the 4x100 which was just 1/100 off the record.) All track marks were achieved with legal wind.
This was the first time Bryant has hosted the championships and thanks to coach Mitchell Switzer and his staff for their efforts in
treating the association's member schools to a memorable end of season
competition.
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Story and photos by Steve Vaitones.