UM’s Rybalko wins New England titles

Senior Viktoriya Rybalko of Zaporzhye, Ukraine won the long and triple jumps for the second straight year at the New England Indoor Track Championships to lead the University of Maine women to a sixth-place finish among 27 teams.

That is Maine’s best finish in 20 years. Northeastern University won with 140 points. Maine tallied 47 points. The meet was held at Smith College in Northampton, Mass.

In the men’s championships held at Boston University, Maine finished eighth. The University of Connecticut won with 140 points. Maine racked up 37 points.

Rybalko’s long jump distance of 6.15 meters (20 feet, 21/4 inches) broke the New England and University of Maine records. She won the triple jump with a distance of 39-10 and her third place time in the 55-meter hurdles (8.22) broke the school record.

Claire Poliquin (high jump) and Heather Jovanelli (mile) registered fifth-place finishes); Katie Page (shot put) and Suzanne Hussey (3000m) notched sixths as did the 4×800 relay team of Janeen Shepard, Nicole Pelletier, Kristen Vidlak and Jovanelli. Shepard was seventh in the 1000-meter run.

In the men’s meet, Paul Rupprecht (1000m) and the 4×800 relay team of Ken Bettis, Ryan Harkleroad, Scott Minowsky and Jeff Oliver claimed seconds; Bettis and Harkleroad were third and fourth in the 800m run; Nate Holmes collected a fifth in the 55m hurdles and Nolan Tobey and Jeff Caron were sixth and seventh in the 3000m run.