GORHAM, ME – The Saint Joseph's College men's indoor track and field team placed fifth with 24 points in the 2013 State of Maine Championship at University of Southern Maine on Saturday night. Senior standout Jack LaFreniere (Alton, N.H.) accounted for 20 of the Monks' points with a pair of victories in the annual event.
LaFreniere won the 400 Meter Dash (50.61) and 200 Meter Dash (23.28), just .05 faster than runner-up Zach Miller (USM), events and also finished seventh in the 55 Meter Dash (7.10) in the program's first-ever appearance in the Maine State Championship.
The Monks' 4x400 Meter Relay quartet earned four points with a fourth-place finish after running the event in 3:56.28.
Bates College ran away with the Team Championship, earning 207 points as opposed to the 139 accumulated by runner-up Bowdoin College. Southern Maine (123) and Colby College (59) also competed in the state meet.
Bates senior thrower David Pless received the Goodrich Memorial Most Valuable Field Athlete Award for the second straight year after setting meet records in the shot put (58-10 ¼) and the weight throw (62-1 ¼). Bowdoin junior Coby Horowitz was the recipient of the Wescott Most Valuable Track Athlete Award for winning the 1,000 meters and the mile.
In addition to Pless' two meet records, new meet standards were set by junior Samuel Seeking of Bowdoin in the 5,000 (14:45.00), senior James LePage of Bates in the 600 (1:21.14) and the Bates 4 x 800 relay team (7:52.83).
Saint Joseph's continues the indoor season with an appearance in the Valentine Invitational at Boston University on Saturday at 9:00 AM.
Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 350-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
