Kevin Lucas era begins, Fugett smashes school record
NEWARK, Del. - After a seven month wait, the Kevin Lucas era has officially begun as the Salisbury University track and field teams stretched their legs at the Thomson Invitational hosted by the University of Delaware.
The meet showcased talent from all three collegiate divisions as nearly 60 men's and women's teams participated in the meet. The Sea Gulls competed in the Division II and III events. The Sea Gull men finished fourth overall and the women's team placed ninth. Salisbury broke through with many outstanding individual performances despite having a core of its top runners inactive in their first indoor meet of the season.
On the men's side, junior Brandon Fugett began his junior campaign with a bang. He threw a school-record 15.30 meters (50 feet, 2.75 inches) in the shot put, which broke the previous school-record by more than a foot. The toss was the lone first place honor on the day for SU and bested all Division I throwers, except the University of Delaware's John Viotto (15.68 meters). Fugett also received second-place laurels in the weight throw (14.91 meters).
Senior Bobby Price took home a third-place finish in the high jump as he cleared 1.94 meters. Price had tried to clear 2.03 meters, which would have set a new school record, but nicked the bar.
The men had eight other runners turn in notable performances. Sophomore Brandon Lane took fourth-place in the triple jump (13.15 meters). Junior Mike Marfut (third-place) crossed the finish line in 1:11.09 in the 500-meter dash and was closely followed by junior Quentin Briscoe (fifth-place). Briscoe also placed seventh in the 60-meter hurdles as he glided across the line in 8.93 seconds. Junior Justin Acker finished fifth out of 34 runners in the 60-meter dash (7.18 seconds). Salisbury had a strong representation in the 1,000-meter run as sophomore Chris Barnard (2:46.24) and freshman Ryan Gemon (2.48.10) finished third and fourth, respectively. Junior Travis Boccher (third-place, 9:15.64) and freshman John Fitzgerald (fourth-place, 9:28.96) rounded out the top performances for the men in the 3,000-meter run.
Although the women's squad saw many players absent at the meet, the Sea Gulls did have three great individual performances in the distance events. Sophomore Masha Burge ran a great race in the 3000-meter run as she finished in second-place with a time of 11:33.64. Freshman Becca Stinner sprinted to a sixth-place finish in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:43.21 and sophomore Liz Tollett finished seventh in the mile run (6:03.08).
The maroon and gold will look to continue their early season success as the Sea Gulls travel down Rt. 13 to Christopher Newport University to compete in the Christopher Newport University Invitational next Saturday, February, 7th at 9 a.m.
