America East released its preseason coaches’ polls on Wednesday, projecting the Boston University women’s team to be at the top of the conference and the men’s team second in the conference.
The women’s team is the reigning America East champion and led the conference with 61 points and in first-place votes with five. The University of Albany is ranked second in the conference with 60 points and four first-place votes.
Trailing Albany is the University of Maryland-Baltimore County with 42 points and the University of New Hampshire with 40 points. Finishing the poll is the University of Vermont (37), Binghamton University (30), the University of Maine (26), Stony Brook University (19) and the University of Hartford (9).
Senior Shelby Walton will be a key performer for the women’s team this year, as she won the 100- and 200-meter dashes and led the 4×100-meter relay team to gold.
Junior Allison Barwise will also be among the top performers for the Terriers. She will look to defend her heptathlon and high jump titles.
The men’s team received one first-place vote while accumulating 56 total points in the coaches’ poll. Albany took the top spot with the remaining first-place votes and 64 total points.
The rest of the poll listed Binghamton (50) in third, UNH (41) in fourth, UMBC (39) in fifth, Maine (29) in sixth, Stony Brook (18) in seventh, Vermont (17) in eighth and Hartford (10) rounding out the list in last place.
2011 Most Outstanding Track Performer junior R.J. Page will likely be a top performer for BU, as he set a conference record in the 200-meter dash last spring with a time of 21.22 seconds.
Senior Tewado Latty will also be among the top runners. He is the reigning 400-meter dash champion and set a conference record in the race last season.
Both teams will be back in action in the Texas Relays from March 28-31 and the Snowflake Classic on March 31.
Women’s Golf
The BU women’s golf team participated in the Siena Invitational in Port St. Lucie, Fla., this past weekend, finishing seventh out of eight teams.
Freshman Kristyna Pavlickova led he Terriers, who accumulated a total of 703 strokes during the two-day invitational. The Prague native, one of five Terriers participating in the tournament, shot four over par on the second day of competition. Her final total of 158 (82-76) tied her for ninth place.
Senior Courtney Dampolo shot a two-day total of 174, landing her in a tie for 28th place.
Freshmen Christina Patracuolla and Flor Canedo, along with senior Jill Eelman rounded out the Terriers squad finishing in 35th, 41st and 46th place, respectively.
The Terriers will next compete in Barrington, R.I., on April 8 and 9 in the Brown Invitational.
Rowing
The BU women’s rowing team competed in the Clemson Regatta on March 17, taking fourth-place finishes in the Second Varsity Eight and Second Novice Eight races.
During their first race of the day, the Terriers placed fifth in the Varsity Eight with a time of 7:01.30. The host team, No. 16 Clemson University, took the top spot with a time of 6:46.21.
In the Second Varsity Eight, BU earned fourth place when it came in at a time of 7:05.56.
The Terriers experienced their worse race of the meet during the Novice Eight when it placed seventh out of seven teams with a time of 7:38.08.
BU finished its day with a fourth-place finish in the Second Novice Eight. The Terriers came in more than 26 seconds behind first-place finisher Iowa College with a time of 7:56.13.
The team will next compete in the Beanpot on March 24.
