Maine teams take 3rd Rybalko stars for Black Bears

ORONO – The University of Maine men’s and women’s track and field teams each finished third over the weekend at the America East Championships at the Beckett Track Complex.

Northeastern claimed the women’s crown with 183.5 points, followed by Albany (135), Maine (125), Vermont (114.5), New Hampshire (98), Binghamton (52) and Stony Brook (51).

Albany took home the men’s title with 230 points, followed by Northeastern (158), Maine (106), New Hampshire (105), Boston University (102), Binghamton (87), Stony Brook (42) and Hartford (8).

The Maine women were led by Viktoriya Rybalko, who won both the long jump (6.37 meters) and the triple jump (12.47m).

Rybalko set an America East record in the long jump, and qualified for the NCAA regional in the triple jump. She also took third in the 200 in 25.06 seconds, and fourth in the 100 in 12.14.

Maine’s Katie Souviney took second in the heptathlon with 4,255 points while Nicole Pelletier claimed third in the 3,000 steeplechase in 11:09.58.

Silvia Scaldaferri also performed well for the Bears as she took third in the long jump with a leap of 5.60m, and fourth in the 400 in 58.57.

Maine’s Katie Page placed third in the discus (41.36m) and fifth in the javelin (37.36m) while Claire Poliquin added a third-place finish in the high jump with a height of 1.60m.

The Bears dominated the javelin with Amelia Williams taking third (38.04), Kari Jenkins finishing fourth (37.83), Page taking fifth and Staci Short seventh (33.97).

Other point-winners for Maine included Heather Jovanelli finishing fifth in the 1500, Suzanne Hussey fourth in the 5000, and Kristen Vidlak fifth in the 800. Sadie Shaffer earned a sixth-place finishes n the high jump and long jump, while the 4×100 and 4×800 relay teams both took fourth, and the 4×400 team added a fifth-place finish.

On the men’s side, Maine’s 4×800 relay team of Andy Caron, Paul Rupprecht, Ryan Harkleroad and Ken Bettis clocked a 7:41.16 to take first and set an America East record. Mike Lansing raced to a first-place finish in the 3000 steeplechase in 9:15.97, and Jesse Ludwig captured the long jump with a leap of 6.99m.

Bettis and Harkleroad went second and fourth in the 800, finishing in 1:51.47 and 1:51.88, respectively.

Maine’s Joel Evans (54.22) and Peter Gilbert (56.97) went second and sixth in the 400 hurdles. Caron (3:53.03) and Rupprecht (3:57.38) took the third and sixth spots in the 1500, while Nate Holmes placed fourth in the 110 hurdles in 15.37.

Nolan Tobey raced to a fifth-place finish in the 5000 (15:19.93). Other Maine scorers included Scott Godsoe taking fifth in the long jump, Kenneth Savary earning seventh in the triple jump, Dave Cusano finished fourth in the javelin and Jeremy Ouelette fourth in the decathlon.

Maine’s 4×100 relay team finished third while the 4×400 relay team took fifth.