Moon Township, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University track & field team finished fourth at the 2016 Northeast Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships Sunday in New Britain, Conn., compiling 46 points in the second day of competition on the campus of Central Connecticut State and 81 points overall.
Sacred Heart won the team title for the second straight year by scoring 183 points. The Pioneers finished ahead of LIU Brooklyn (158), Fairleigh Dickinson (85) and the Colonials. Trailing RMU in the team standings were Mount St. Mary's (74), CCSU (71), Saint Francis U. (66), Wagner (52.5), Bryant (37.5) and St. Francis Brooklyn (10).
Freshman
Sam Buck was named the 2016 NEC Most Outstanding Rookie Performer after compiling 17 points across three events. Buck
finished fifth in the hammer throw Saturday but followed that performance by earning silver in the javelin and placing fourth in the discus Sunday.
Buck put forth a throw of 41.60 meters in the javelin to finish second and earn both All-NEC Second Team and All-NEC Rookie Team accolades. She trailed only Kelly Yanucil of Mount St. Mary's, who won the event with a toss of 46.41 meters. Buck's distance in the javelin exceeded the qualifying mark for the ECAC Championships, and she also posted the top throw for Robert Morris in the discus with a distance of 40.31 meters to claim fourth.
Also scoring for the Colonials in the discus were juniors
Samantha Black and
Rachel Boody. Black posted a throw of 39.61 meters to finish fifth, while Boody claimed sixth at 39.44 meters. Junior
Marlee Zubek, meanwhile, also scored for RMU in the javelin, finishing fifth with a toss of 38.02 meters.
Senior
Olivia Loy took home bronze in the pole vault thanks to a leap of 3.45 meters. Also scoring for Robert Morris in the pole vault was sophomore
Breanna Manzolillo, who finished fifth at 3.35 meters.
In the 800-meter, sophomore
Rachel Crane finished fourth with a time of 2:21.42, while freshman
Mathilde Terleth also earned fourth in the finals of the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:05.55.
RMU now gears up for the ECAC Championships, which take place Friday, May 13, through Sunday, May 15, in Princeton, N.J.
