ROXBURY, Mass. – John Benner registered a new Vermont record in the mile to earn a victory on Saturday at the New England Championships. The UVM men finished sixth with 35 points and the women were 12th with 19 points.
 
RELATED LINKS
Men's Results | Women's Results
 
COACH'S QUOTE
"I'm especially proud of how well our athletes supported each other this weekend," said head coach Matt Belfield. "That's what makes performances like John's win in the mile even more remarkable. Everyone knew what was up and the energy when he approached the finish line - well under school record time - was one of the best experiences I've had here at UVM. There were a lot of great additional marks today. I certainly want to shine light on Justin Liechty's anchor in the 4x400 that brought us back from about 25 meters back to win the section. He's the best anchor I've ever been associated with."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Benner ran a record setting time of 4:05.34 to win the mile by nearly two seconds. He clipped the previous school record of 4:07.12.
• Liechty ran a time of 47.80 seconds as the anchor in the 4x400 meter relay to help the Catamounts clinch fourth place. He was joined by Trevor Nassar, Dan DeBlieck, and Alex Warner in the relay. Liechty also posted a fifth-place finish in the 400 meter dash with a time of 49.41 seconds.
• Tyler Marshall finished third in the 1000 meter run with a time of 2:29.63. Teammate Bill Comstock grabbed eighth place with a time of 2:35.79.
• Alex May Curtis was fourth in the 500 meter dash with a personal-best time of 1:15.05. She bested her preliminary mark from yesterday by 0.19 seconds.
• In the heptathlon, Alex Parasky finished fourth overall with 4,707 points. The senior won the 60 meter hurdles (8.79s) and finished second in the shot put (12.22m).
• Annemarie Martell logged an eighth-place finish in the women's 3000 meter run with a time of 9:59.54 and Matt Hynes took ninth in the men's run with a time of 8:31.64.
• Caroline O'Shea finished eighth in the women's mile with a time of 5:01.87. 

NOTES

• The previous school record in the mile (indoor) was set by Thomas O'Leary '16 on February 26, 2016.
• This is Benner's first indoor school record. He set the outdoor school record in the 3000 meter run (8:34.85) last season. 

UP NEXT
Vermont track & field returns to action on Friday (Feb. 7) for the UAlbany Invite at Ocean Breeze in Staten Island, New York. The Catamounts will also be at Dartmouth on Saturday (Feb. 8).