TRACK & FIELD NOTEBOOK
The University of Vermont track & field program travels to Roxbury, Massachusetts for one of its biggest meets of the season Friday and Saturday (Feb. 1 & 2) when they compete in the New England Championships, hosted by the NEICAAA.
 
A group of Catamounts will also be competing Saturday in the Villanova Invitational at Ocean Breeze in Staten Island, New York.
 
RELATED LINKS
NEW ENGLAND (Feb. 1 & 2): Event Schedule | Live Results | Men's Qualifiers | Women's Qualifiers
VILLANOVA (Feb. 2): Live Results
 
COACH'S QUOTE
"With New Englands earlier in the year now, it changes our objectives a little bit," said head coach Matt Belfield. "It is still a high quality meet, which serves us well, but we won't be peaked yet. That said, we are ready for many scoring performances that will give us momentum for later in February."
 
NEW ENGLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS (Feb. 1 & 2)
The 51st New England Championships will take place at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center. Catamounts competing in the championship have all recorded results throughout the 2018-19 indoor season that met the NEICAAA Indoor Qualifying Standards. The Vermont men placed 10th in last year's indoor championship, highlighted by Justin Liechty's runner-up finish in the 400m finals. The UVM women registered a 15th-place finish as a team, led by Lauren Trumble's fourth-place finish in the mile.   
 
VILLANOVA INVITATIONAL (Feb. 2)
Ten of the men's track & field distance runners are expected to race in the Villanova Invitational. The group is expected to include John Benner, Neville Caulfield, Bill Comstock, Chris Gish, Christian Groff, Matt Hynes, Taylor Kracher, Tyler Marshall, Steven O'Driscoll, and Luke Petela. The meet will be held at Ocean Breeze Track and Field Athletic Complex, which boasts a state-of-the-art hydraulically banked competition track.
 
LAST WEEK'S MEETS
Thirteen individual victories and a new school record headlined the weekend for Vermont track & field who split up between the Penn State National Open, Middlebury Invitational, and UNH Tri-Meets. Lauren Trumble won the 1000m invitational race and Blake Williams set a school record in the 600m Saturday (Jan. 26) at Penn State. Sonia John raced to victories in both the 200m dash and 400m dash while Shane O'Connor had a commanding victory in the shot put at the Middlebury Invitational. The UNH Tri-Meets saw Taylor Kracher and Brennan Huff sweep the top two spots in the 1000m and Maggie Hallahan recorded a victory as some of the individual winners for the Cats.

TRUMBLE GETS SECOND-CONSECUTIVE WEEKLY HONOR
Lauren Trumble was named America East Female Track Performer of the Week (Jan. 29) for the second consecutive week following her first-place finish in the 1000m invitational race at the Penn State National Open. The senior captain raced to a time of 2:50.32 as the top finisher to qualify for the New England Championships and ECAC/IC4A. Her 1000m time is one of four individual top marks she holds for Vermont this season. Trumble has also set the pace in the 600m (1:33.79), mile (4:57.19), and 3000m (9:58.61) while also running a leg of the team's top 4x800m relay mark (9:30.91). The senior captain was also named TD Bank Student-Athlete of the Week for the third time in her final year at Vermont.
 
WILLIAMS SETS SCHOOL RECORD
Blake Williams set the 600m school record Saturday (Jan. 26) at the Penn State National Open with a time of 1:21.83. His historic mark beat the previous record by 2.11 seconds.
 
CATS IN THE REGIONAL RANKINGS
Both the men's and women's track & field teams remain in the USTFCCCA's Northeast rankings for the second week in a row. The Vermont men are listed 24th in the region after debuting at 17th in last week's rankings. The Catamounts' women maintain their 32nd ranking for the second installment of the regional rankings.

NORTH COUNTRY ALL-COMERS
A highlight to the indoor season is the North Country All-Comers, hosted by the Catamounts at Gardner-Collins Indoor Track. The only home meet for Vermont takes place Sunday (Feb. 10) at 12 p.m. UVM last hosted an indoor meet in 2016.