11 podium finishes on day two led the men’s team to their 3rd straight title. PHOTO CREDIT: Connor Zisk
For one last time, the A-10 Indoor Track and Field Championships were hosted in Mackal Field House over the weekend, where the University of Rhode Island men’s track and field team won their 14th title.
It was a historic weekend at the Mackal Field House, because it was the last time URI would host the Atlantic 10 Indoor Track and Field Championships. Since 1993, URI has hosted the event all but five times. Over that span, the men’s team took home the trophy 13 times – 12 championships under Hall of Fame head coach John Copeland and one under current head coach and former URI athlete Trent Baltzell.
The women’s track and field team has a winning head coach of their own, Laurie Feit-Melnick. Feit-Melnick has led them to 10 titles; however, none since 2005.
The women’s team will have to wait another year for a championship. An underwhelming first day ended with the women’s team in ninth of 14 teams and a better second day managed to get them up to sixth. Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) won the women’s championship with 149 points.
It was the individual performances that stood out for URI. Fifth-year Trinity Smith set a new personal record for the 60 meter hurdles (8.46 seconds) and was just .01 seconds away from setting a new meet record. First-year Lily Saul won the women’s 800 meter as well as the award for Most Outstanding Rookie Performer. Saul was a part of the 4×800 meter relay, where URI placed third of 12 teams and set a new school record in the process at 9.11.51 minutes. As for the throwers, second-year Megan Wood finished third of 23 in the shot put and set a new personal best (13.82 meters).
As for the men’s indoor track and field team, they were led by their second-year head coach Baltzell. With Baltzell at the helm, they won their 14th title in school history, the third title in a row, and fifth in six years.
On Saturday, the Rams finished in second place, just short of George Mason University by a mark of four points. However, on Sunday the Rams turned it up a couple notches and scored 133 points, which alone would’ve been enough to win the whole thing.
Rhody racked up those points by winning four different events and sent players to the podium for 11 different events. URI’s second-year Jarrett Young won the 200 meter with a time of 21.77 seconds and third-year Jolon O’Connor finished in third with a time of 21.97. Young would also medal for the 400 meter, coming in third of eight.
Jarrett Young chose to attend URI over other programs, such as Penn State and UConn. When Young joined the program, he said he chose URI because of its atmosphere and culture.
“I have a lot of great teammates that push me and I’m in a great spot,” Young said. “I have a ton of guys here who are even faster than me. The coaches are great, Coach Doyle knows exactly what he’s doing and talking about, just speed mechanics and stuff like that. I’m getting better everyday, every month, every week, and it’s just a great place to be and I’m flourishing.”
Young is finding success this season, and so is the rest of the Rhody track program under Head Coach Trent Baltzell, who won Indoor Track and Field Coach of the Year during the medal ceremony.
Coach Baltzell has been tasked with replacing Hall of Famer John Copeland, who built this Rhody track program over 39 years into an A-10 juggernaut, winning 25 A-10 titles. Coach Baltzell, a former athlete for Copeland, gives him full credit for where the program is today.
“A lot of what Coach Cope[land] tried to instill in the guys, I’m trying to do the same,” Baltzell said. “He had this thing working so well, it was a well-oiled machine and I came in and tried to make as few changes as I possibly could. [I] owe a lot to Coach Copeland, he got this thing rolling the last couple [of] decades and we’re just trying to make him proud.”
Copeland’s recruits gave him a reason to be proud this weekend as they continue to win. Johnathan Buchanan and Stephen Cirella are two fifth-year students who are essential leaders for a young Rhody team, according to their coach.
Buchanan set a meet and facility record in the weight throws this weekend with a toss of 20.49m. That throw won Buchanan the event, and URI’s first-year Alexander Baez claimed second place. Cirella placed second in the shot put (16.62 meter) and second in the Heptathlon with 5,106 points. In the Heptathlon, Cirella won the shot put and pole vault, which won him Most Outstanding Field Performer.
Baltzell gave those two immense praise afterwards.
“We couldn’t do it without those guys,” Baltzell said. “You have to have strong leaders in a program, guys that you can rely on. Not just for their performances but everything they do off the track as well. I’m so proud of those guys for doing what they did this weekend.”
Coach Baltzell said he and his team will miss those two when they graduate.
They and the rest of the indoor track team do have one more competition, the IC4A Championship, which will be at Boston University from March 3rd to the 5th.