The Boston University men’s and women’s track and field teams used the weekend to tune up for conference championships, competing at the Holy Cross Decathlon on Thursday and Friday and at the University of Connecticut Invitational on Saturday.
Junior Greg Daggett placed third in the Decathlon, while at the UConn Invitational the men’s squad came in sixth out of seven teams and the women fifth out of eight. Regardless of this past weekend’s results, BU’s primary goal remained the same — preparing for the America East Championships.
“We didn’t bring everyone,” said BU coach Bruce Lehane, “Mostly sprinters, jumpers and throwers.”
Daggett battled hard to come back and finish third at the Holy Cross Decathlon after finding himself stuck in seventh at the end of Day One. Thursday, Daggett placed third in the long jump with a leap of 6.43 meters and sixth in the 400-meter (53.75). He finished the first day’s events with a score of 3,048 points.
The next day, Daggett got off to a fast start in the 110-meter hurdles, finishing in third place (15.94). He placed third again in the pole vault with a height of 4.10 meters.
“Greg did a really good job,” Lehane said. “They are basically getting ready for America East Championships so it’s a trial for that.”
Freshman Logan Moore also performed well at the decathlon, but two fouls prevented him from reaching his full potential. Thursday, Moore finished 15th in the 100-meter dash (12.05). He also garnered a fifth-place finish in the long jump with a score of 6.21 meters. Moore then fouled out in the shot put, leaving him in 19th on the leaderboard.
Like Daggett, Moore rebounded in Day Two. In the 110-meter hurdles, Moore placed second (15.78) and continued showing improvement by winning the discus throw with a distance of 40.92 meters. He was the only one to break the 40-meter mark at the event. Moore also tried for first in the pole vault with a height of 4.20 meters, but his attempt came to an end when he fouled out in the javelin.
“Logan fouled out in the throwing events because he had a sore elbow and he was going for big marks,” Lehane said. “They both looked good which was the reason [for the event].”
Daggett and Moore joined the rest of the team Saturday at the UConn Invitational. The men finished tied for sixth place out of seven schools with 26 points. The women’s team fared better with a score of 50 points — good enough for fifth.
The highlight for the men was the 4×400 relay of sophomore Adam Churey, freshman Max Esposito, and seniors Barry Graham and Matt Howard, who captured first place with a time of 3:18:39.
Senior Barry Graham came in seventh in the 400-meter with a time of 49.65, followed by freshman Max Esposito in 12th (51.74).
On the women’s side, freshman Whitney Ford finished fifth in the 100-meter dash in 12.60 seconds, closely followed by sophomore Alexis Beaudet (sixth place, 12.63) and freshman Laura Ricker (ninth place 12.94).
The team showed well at both invitationals last weekend, but the Terriers’ chance to prove themselves will come at the America East Championships on May 5.