The Boston University women’s track and field team ran away with nine top-five collegiate finishes Friday while the men’s team trotted off with only three Saturday at the Terrier Invitational in the BU Track and Tennis Center.
The meet started off quickly for the BU women with two runners placing top-five in the 55-meter dash. Sophomore Shelby Walton won the race with a time of 7.21 seconds. Senior Whitney Ford followed close behind in third place.
After their victory in the 55-meter, the BU women took fourth, fifth and sixth place finishes in the 200-meter dash. Sophomore Jackie Dim (25.04) was followed by Walton (25.42) and freshman Catherine Milledge (25.46).
Dim also finished third in the 400-meter dash, right behind Boston College sophomore Anna Cioffredi.
BU junior Laura Martin had a good showing, finishing second in the 300-meter dash.
The women’s team also had an impressive finish in the 55-meter hurdles. Freshman Nikko Brady finished second, followed by Milledge in sixth.
Walton and Ford showed signs of being quality athletes long before the Terrier Invitational.
Walton had a spectacular high school career. The Danbury, Conn. native won the Connecticut and New England indoor championships in the 55-meter dash during both her junior and senior years. In outdoor events, she won state and regional championships in the 100 and 200-meter dashes.
Last year, Walton set the BU record for the outdoor track team in the 100-meter dash (11.84 seconds).
Ford, a BU track veteran, also had quite the high school career.
She had multiple podium finishes at the county and state levels, and also broke four school records in the long jump, high jump, 4-by-100-meter and 4-by-200-meter relays.
In 2009, Ford broke the BU school record for the outdoor 4-100 relay team, setting a time of 46.07 seconds.
Following the women, the BU men’s team took a little while to get rolling, but in the end walked away with a few substantial victories.
Freshman R.J. Page set a strong pace and fought for sixth among collegiate runners in the 200-meter dash.
Shortly following Page’s race, junior Joel Senick finished fourth in the 400-meter dash.
Junior Craig McPherson and freshman Robert Gibson finished third in each of their events – the 1-mile and 3,000-meter races, respectively – to give the BU men their best finishes for the meet.
The BU men and women had strong finishes in their field events to bring the meet to a close.
For the men, Jan Bicanic placed seventh among collegiate throwers in the shot put. Junior Dan Withrow threw short of his teammate and placed ninth.
As for the women, junior Karly Neveu leapt into third place at a height of 1.67 meters in the high jump.
Ford, with another top-five finish for the meet, grabbed a second-place finish in the long jump with a distance of 5.64 meters.
Postseason competition for both clubs begins in mid-February at the America East championships.
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