April 16, 2009

Princeton, N.J. - The UMass men's and women's track and field teams travel to Princeton University this weekend for the Larry Ellis Invitational. Friday's events commence at 4:00 p.m. and run until approximately 9:45 p.m. Saturday will begin with the men's hammer throw at 11:00 a.m. at Broadmead while the women's 4X100 meter relay begins at noon on the track. Last season, Lisa Wilson recorded the second-best throw in school history in three different events.

Outdoor Rankings
• The Minutemen have been selected to rank third at the 2009 Atlantic 10 Outdoor Track & Field Championship. Last season, UMass finished fourth overall.
• The women's track & field team has been tabbed to finish seventh overall. Last season, the Minutewomen ranked sixth of 12 teams.

Who's Larry Ellis?
• Larry Ellis coached a generation of Princeton track athletes, as well as the 1984 U.S. men's Olympic Track & Field Team, which included Carl Lewis who won four gold medals. In 1970, he became the first African American head coach in the Ivy League.
• Last season, Lisa Wilson recorded the second-best throw in school history in the hammer, discus, and shot put. The 4X100 squad of Kristen Bakanowski, Ros Murphy, Holly Heinricher, and Alisha Tatham ranked second, qualifying for the ECAC Championship.
• On the men's side, Andrew McCann finished third in the 5,000 meter with a time of 14:21.40 to qualify for the IC4A Championships.
• There was no team score for either the men's or women's team.

There's No Place Like Home
• Last weekend, the Minutemen ranked first overall of ten teams at home.
• The maroon and white dominated the 10,000 meter run with the top four finishers and five of the top six. Junior Andrew Mulvaney earned the gold in the first event of the day, posting a time of 30:39.12. Brothers David and Kevin Johnson took second and third, respectively. David finished in 30:40.35 while Kevin crossed in 30:45.63. Sophomore Zach Gordon finished fourth with a time of 31:11.57 and junior Jason Ayr ranked sixth with a time of 32:11.97.
• The Minutemen ranked second overall of ten teams, losing only to Maine.
• Lisa Wilson grabbed first in the shot put (44-04.00) and discus (144-02), beating the second place finisher by four feet each time. Kristen Bakanowski took the gold in the pole vault (12-03.50). Ida Okkonen also finished first in the long jump with a distance of 18-06.50.

Minutewomen Solid During Indoor Season
• Redshirt senior Kristen Bakanowski (Northboro, Mass.) ranked third at the ECAC Championship's with a season-best height of 12-09.50.
• Sophomore Stephanie Aguguo (Shrewsbury, Mass.) made her first appearance at the ECAC's ranking 21st with a distance of 37-03.75.
• Newcomer Ida Okkonen (Kuopio, Finland) finished 23rd with a mark of 17-04.00 in the long jump at ECAC's.

Men Run At IC4A Championship
• Seven Minutemen and three relay squads competed at the IC4A Championships during the indoor season.
• One of the top finishers, freshman Philip Weltman (Dedham, Mass.), ran the 400 meter event in 48.89 for a 16th place finish.
• The DMR, solid all season, ranked 19th at IC4A's with a time of 10:06.44. The squad consisted of Schwartz, DiOrio, McCann, and Gordon.

Minutemen Catch Records
• Weltman finished sixth in the 400 meter run with a time of 48.45, qualifying for IC4A competition, at the Valentine Invitational. This time placed him second all-time in UMass history.
• Sophomore Scott VanderMolen ran a season-best 2:26.83 in the 1000 meter for the fifth best time in UMass indoor track history, ranking 11th at the IC4A's

Minutewomen Rock Record Book
• Sophomore triple jumper Stephanie Aguguo (Shrewsbury, Mass.) earned UMass/Dinn Bros. Athlete of the Week honors after triple jumping into the UMass record books at the UConn Invitational with a distance of 38-07.00. She scored ten points for the Minutewomen, ranking first overall, and beating the second place finisher by over a foot.
• Aguguo marked a distance of 38-06.00 at the indoor Atlantic 10 Championship to secure her place in UMass indoor history as the third-best all-time. She ranked fourth overall at the meet.
• At the same meet, sophomore transfer Ida Okkonen (Kuopio, Finland) triple jumped a distance of 36-10.25 to finish eighth overall and fifth all-time at UMass.
• Okkonen also ranks fourth all-time at UMass in the long jump with a mark of 18-09.25 at the Great Dane Invitational during the indoor season. She finished third overall at the meet.

Shiyi Wins Awards
• Redshirt sophomore Shiyi Zan (Ottawa, Ontario) excelled at the Great Dane Classic, earning UMass/Dinn Bros. Athlete of the Week honors. Zan won the gold in the 5000 meter with a time of 17:50.86. She also set a meet record with that time. Zan finished a full 26 seconds before the second place finisher.
• Zan also UMass/Dinn Bros. AOW after the cross country home meet against Vermont, Maine, and Colgate after ranking first.
• After the indoor season, Zan was named to the Academic All-Conference team. In the fall, Zan earned Student-Athlete of the Year.

Atlantic 10 Gives Minutemen Nod
• Senior Peter Fortunato (Tewksbury, Mass.) garnered A-10 Co-Performer of the Week after the Boston University Valentine Invitational. Fortunato ranked 16th of 179 runners in the mile with an IC4A-qualifying time of 4:11.48. This time was the best in the A-10 at the time and Fortunato's best all season.
• Weltman, after racing into the UMass record books, earned A-10 Rookie of the Week. The time was the second-fastest in the Atlantic 10 at the time in the 400 meter and qualified Weltman for the IC4A Championships.

A "10" At A-10 Championship
• The Minutemen won their second-ever Atlantic 10 title during the cross country season, edging Duquesne by one point. Five runners placed in the top 25.
• Coach Ken O'Brien was named the men's Coach of the Year.
• Junior Jonathan Pierce (Hanover, Mass.) led the pack for the first time all season, finishing ninth overall with a time of 24:22.80. He was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Conference team.
• Senior Nils Fischer ranked 11th with a time of 24:32.0, also named to the A-10 All-Conference team.