PLYMOUTH, N.H. - It's Championship time and the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth men's and women's track and field teams are ready for action at the 2023 Little East Conference Championships. This year's event, hosted by Plymouth State University, begins at 11am on Saturday.
UMD's men's squad heads into this year's meet looking to defend its title after capturing the 2022 crown with 147 points. The Corsairs captured five individual championship titles a season ago, in addition to the victorious 4x400 meter relay.
It's a return of champions for the Corsairs as 2022 winners Cameron Rodgers (long jump & high jump), Andrew Swallow (shot put), Edward Lundy (55m dash) and David Bennett (200m) all look to defend their titles.
This season has been one of wins and records for Bennett as he won the 400m (50.84) and the 200m (22.47) at the Branwen Smith-King Invite at Tufts, followed by wins in the 400m (49.89) and 4x400 (3:28.79) at the Wheaton Invite. The sophomore went on to re-set the school record in the 400m at the NEICAAA Championships, finishing fourth overall in 49.11.
Rodgers, a senior, has also been outstanding this season in a number of events, winning the 4x400 relay (3:28.79) with Bennett, in addition to a win in the 60m-hurdles (8.35) at Wheaton. He won the long jump (6.80m; 22'3.75") at Coast Guard before hitting a major record at the David Hemery Valentine Invite at BU.
At the multi-divisional event, Rodgers took 43rd overall in the 400m with a time of 48.84 which was not only a new school record, but made him the first Corsair to run a sub-49 seconds indoors and just the third in program history to make the cut in program history.
Graduate student Andrew Swallow, who currently ranks seventh amongst all DIII competitors in the shot put, has once again been outstanding in 2023. He has compiled five wins in the event, including five times with throws of 50-feet or more. His longest throw of the season came at the USM Open II, recording a distance of 53'2.25" (16.21 meters). Swallow has also posted three victories in the weight throw as well.
The Corsairs women's squad heads into this year's championship with high hopes, looking to build off a fifth-place finish in 2022. UMD is paced by graduate student
Kait Bernier, who has shown no signs of slowing down after an outstanding junior season.
Through seven meets in 2023, Bernier has been impressive across a number of events, including four wins. At the Tufts Branwen Smith-King Invite, she won the 200 meters (26.48) and the 400 meters (59.64), going on the next weekend for wins in the 400m (59.59) and 4x100 (4:15.41) at the Wheaton Invite.
Bernier, who has received seven LEC weekly honors this season, was last out at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational at Boston University. Against multi-divisional competition, she took 89th overall with a time of 58.38 - a mark that was just shy of her own school record and also the third fastest indoor time in school history.
Fellow graduate student Alexa Van Voorhis has also had a strong season, competing in a number of distance events in 2023. She finished second in the 5000 meters (19:08.81) at the USM Open II, followed by a victory in the 1 Mile (5:27.58) at the Tufts Jumbo Invite.
Van Voorhis went on to take third in the 3000 meters (10:37.71) at Wheaton, in addition to a third-place mark in the 1000 meters (3:13.75) at Coast Guard. She saw a strong effort at the Valentine Invitational, posting a time of 5:18.29 - a mark that was her personal best in the event.
