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Post date: Jul 28, 2011 12:06:21 AM
The form charts for the 2011 Mason-Dixon Championships showed the men of CNU as the favorites, but not by much. As with the women’s competition, Behrend was the strongest contender and came in to the meet with a lot of firepower in the hurdles, jumps, and throws. The Captains answered their strength with strength and a herculean effort from Richard Roethel.
Captains Reclaim Conference Crown
Roethel Contributes Two Titles And 52.5 Points To CNU Total
It was not a one man show – in fact, 19 Captains put their names on 43 All-Conference certificates and four were crowned Conference Champions in six events. Having already secured a spot at Nationals in the Decathlon and not having another on his schedule until the Div. III Championships, Richard Roethel (Farmingville, NY) competed in a virtual Decathlon at the Mason-Dixon Championships. On paper, it appeared that the Captains would need every point he could muster, but his teammates helped turn the weekend in to a tune-up meet for the multi-talented sophomore.
On Friday evening, Roethel qualified for the finals in both the 100m (11.08) and 110m Hurdles (15.37) – just off his PRs in both. Brandon Evans (Stafford, VA) (11.51) and Dominic Yanger (Reston, VA) (18.34) earned PRs in those events, but did not advance. In the Long Jump, Roethel stretched out to 6.61m/21-8 for 4th place between Kwarteng Asare’s (Fairfax, VA) 3rd place 6.66m/21-10.25 and Micheal Kitchen’s (Leesburg, VA) 6th place 6.39m/20-11.75. With his first points registered, Roethel went over to the High Jump apron and claimed his first Conference Title with a Provisional Qualifying 2.06m/6-9. Asare followed him to the apron and cleared 1.78m/5-10, which was enough for 4th place. Roethel spent much of his time on Saturday with the throwers. The Shot Put went fairly well as he landed a 12.20m/40-0.5 throw for 6th. Teammate Jonathon Wade (Rocky Mount, VA), who had won the Hammer Throw the previous evening with a PR 40.91m/134-2 that further improved his standing as #5 in CNU History, matched his Shot Put PR 13.05m/42-9.75 for 3rd place. Roethel struggled with the Discus (29.74m/97-7, 14th) where Wade was again 3rd (38.01m/124-8 PR), but rebounded with another gold medal performance in the Javelin (52.86m/173-5). Jeffrey Ball (Chesapeake, VA) placed 4th with the spear an improved his #7 position on the CNU All-Time List (46.56m/152-9).
Back on the track, Roethel secured silver in the 110m Hurdles (15.44) and bronze in the 100m Dash (11.11). In between those races, he joined in with his Pole Vault teammates for the biggest head-to-head showdown with Behrend. They came in with three of the top four seeds, but the Captains ended up getting the best of the event with Joseph Taylor (Prince George, VA) claiming 2nd (4.30m/14-1.25) and Roethel taking 4th (4.15m/13-7.25) with a PR that ranks him #8 in CNU History. David Fishman (Springfield, VA) (4.00m/13-1.5) and Christopher Comeau (Chesapeake, VA) (3.85m/12-7.5) took the last two scoring places and the Captains gained 14 points on the form charts.
The Triple Jumpers carried the momentum over from the previous evenings Long Jump and scored 11 points. Asare bounced to silver with a 14.05m/46-1.25 and both Kitchens (13.37m/43-10.5) and Anton Bowman (Springfield, VA) (13.36m/43-10) registered PRs as they placed 5th and 6th.
The distance squad got off to a quick start on Friday with a 3rd place finish from William Kirk(Mechanicsville, VA) (33:44.40), a 5th from rookie Patrick Cunningham (Williamsburg, VA) (34:32.48), and a PR from Andrew Giordano (Great Falls, VA) (37:10.58) in 9th. On Saturday, Corey Lofton (Vienna, VA) raised the bar with a victory in the Steeplechase (9:39.55). Matthew Winkler (Palmyra, VA) then took a surprise win in the 1500m (4:01.61 PR) and moved to #6 on the CNU All-Time List. Brian Huffman(Charlottesville, VA) added 4th place points with his 4:03:67 PR and missed the Top-10 List by 0.07 seconds. Scott Teribury (Woodbridge, VA) (4:08.98) and Garrick Clemente (Haymarket, VA) (4:17.57) also claimed lifetime bests. After Asare (50.16 – 3rd) and Nathan Joyce (Ft. Belvoir, VA) (50.97 PR – 6th) picked up a few more points in the 400m, Winkler lined up for the event where he was expected to win and did so with a 1:54.92 finish in the 800m. Shaowei Tu followed in 3rd (1:55.84) just ahead of Jeffrey Ball’s PR 1:56.22 in 4th.
In the next race, Scott Teribury dropped his PR by over a second to place 2nd in the 400m Hurdles (56.63). Dominic Yanger added his second PR of the meet in 8th (62.65). Richard Roethel returned to the track for another silver medal in the 200m (22.34 PR). Brandon Evans (23.10) and Jeremy Scroggins (Hampton, VA) (26.11) added PRs in their sections. The 5k guys took their turn and showed the same aggression the team demonstrated throughout the meet. Christopher Lyford(Leesburg, VA) made an early move to keep the pace honest but faded a bit for his efforts (16:42.16). Raymond Gamache (King George, VA) was able to maintain the pressure and finished runner-up with a PR 15:33.37. Finishing long doubles, Corey Lofton finished 4th in 15:50.38 and William Kirk came across the line next in 16:13.03.
The relays netted silver and bronze medals. Bowman, Evans, Joyce, and Asare got the baton around the track in 42.91 for 2nd in the shorter relay. Asare teamed up with Roethel, Winkler, and Tu for the longer. Once again, the Captains were in a dogfight with Methodist, Gwynedd-Mercy, and CNU all arriving at the finish line within half a second. Unfortunately, the Captains ended up 3rd (3:24.21).
The Captains amassed 205 points to blow up what was supposed to be a close meet and reclaim the title with a 72 point cushion. Four of the top five individual scorers in the meet were from CNU, led by Richard Roethel's 52.5. For his efforts, Roethel was named the Mason-Dixon Field Athlete of the Meet to match his Indoor honors.
For complete CNU Results, check out the Results Page.
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