TRACK & FIELD NOTEBOOK
The Vermont Catamounts return to Boston after last week's America East Championships for the annual ECAC/IC4A Championships Saturday and Sunday (Mar. 2 & 3) at Boston University Track & Tennis Center.
 
UVM will have 30 athletes competing in the meet, which kicks off at 10 a.m. Saturday. Sunday's events will begin at 9:30 a.m.  
 
RELATED LINKS
Live Results | Event Schedule | Vermont Competitors
 
COACH'S QUOTE
"After tremendous effort and quality team performances at America East last weekend, this championship allows us one more opportunity to showcase our talent," said head coach Matt Belfield. "While the team score is still important to us at ECAC-IC4A, we make decisions that allow some of our more outstanding athletes to focus on individual success. Others will represent us in relays that give them valuable championship meet experience. Having 30 athletes at this event is very exciting for us, and I expect big things for sure."
 
LAST YEAR'S ECAC/IC4A CHAMPIONSHIPS
A pair of UVM records were broken at last year's ECAC/IC4A Championships. On Day 1, Taylor Kracher broke a six-year old UVM record in the 800m preliminaries. Kracher went on to break that mark last weekend at the America East Championships. After setting the men's 4x400m relay record a week prior at last year's conference championships, Dan DeBlieck, Will Juniper, Justin Liechty, and Ahmed Noor re-broke the school record at the ECAC/IC4A's. The Vermont men finished 23rd in the team competition while the women were 41st.
 
2019 AMERICA EAST INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS RECAP
History was made with four remarkable times by Catamounts last weekend at the America East Championships. Lauren Trumble headlined the meet by setting a conference championship record with a time of 2:45.36 in the 1000m run. She was named Most Outstanding Track Performer because of the feat as she led the Vermont women who finished fifth in the conference with 63 points. On the men's side, Dan DeBlieck won the 500m dash after setting a school record in the preliminaries the day before. Taylor Kracher (800m) and Justin Liechty (400m) also set school records as the UVM men finished sixth in America East.
 
MOST OUTSTANDING TRACK PERFORMER
Lauren Trumble was named Most Outstanding Track Performer at the America East Championships after being the only competitor to set a conference championship record last weekend. The senior captain had a blazing fast time of 2:45.36 in the 1000m run to set the championship record as well as the UVM record. Trumble separated herself from the field quickly in the race and went on to win by a margin of 6.49 seconds. The award was one of many she has won this season, going along with her two Female Track Performer of the Week honors, as well as two TD Bank Student-Athlete of the Week awards. Watch Trumble's performance here.
 
CATS AT BU TRACK & TENNIS CENTER
Saturday marks the third time the Catamounts have competed at the Boston University Track & Tennis Center this season. BU hosted the Valentine Invite (Feb. 8 & 9) when Lauren Trumble had the top finish for the UVM women in the mile, followed by an impressive third-place finish by Taylor Kracher the next day. Last weekend's America East Championships were hosted at BU Track & Tennis Center as well when the Cats set four school record including Trumble's conference championship record.
 
RECORD SETTERS
Dan DeBlieck, Taylor Kracher, Justin Liechty, and Lauren Trumble set school records last weekend at the America East Championships. DeBlieck's came in the 500m preliminaries when he cruised to a time of 1:03.62. The junior captain went on to win the finals the following day to headline the Vermont men at the championships. Kracher already held the 800m school record, but bested it with a time of 1:51.11 to hold the top two times in program history. Like Kracher, Liechty also held the school record he beat last weekend with a time of 48.33s in the 400m dash. Lastly, and certainly not least was Trumble's historic time of 2:45.36 in the 1000m run. She set the America East Championships record and eclipsed the Vermont record by 2.59 seconds.