Husson freshman sets school record in season-opening track meet

The Husson University women’s track and field team kicked off its season at the University of Southern Maine Open on Saturday, and left Gorham with some strong performances.

Among them included a school-record performance from freshman Heidi Ntengeri.

The  Nashua, New Hampshire, native established a new school mark in the 400-meter dash, placing second in 1 minute, 5.80 seconds.

The meet, which featured no team scoring, involved teams from Southern Maine, Thomas College, Husson, UMaine-Farmington, Colby College and Saint Joseph’s College.

While the Eagles, coached by former Brewer High School runner Kate Goupee, did not field any individual winners, Husson came away with several other great performances.

They included Erin Ellison’s second-place effort in the weight throw in which she qualified for the New England Division III championships.

The Exeter, New Hampshire, native uncorked a throw of 14.68 meters, good for second place. She added a third-place finish in the shot put with a toss of 10.74 meters

Two other Eagles, Lisa Pawlowski of Boothbay Harbor and Leah Desjardins of Poland, tied for second place in the high jump with leaps of 1.40 meters.

Also for Husson, Casey Modery of Bangor was fifth in the long jump and fourth in the triple jump while Modery, Brooke Hoople, Desjardins and Shea Curely teamed up to finish second in the 4×200-meter relay.

Hoople would add a second-place effort in the 200 meters, clocking in at 27.33. Ntengeri, Kelly Kashian, Hoople, and Morgan Clifford would go on to finish third in the 4×400 relay.

Husson is back in action on Jan. 7 for a meet at USM.

Orach continues torrid senior year 

University of Maine senior runner Jesse Orach had one of the best cross country seasons for the Black Bears in recent memory, claiming the America East individual championship while leading UMaine to a second-place team finish.

The Gorham native has continued that momentum into the indoor track and field season.

Two meets into the year, Orach owns two individual wins for coach Mark Lech’s Black Bears, including one in the 3,000 meters as UMaine beat border rival New Hampshire in a dual meet in Orono on Dec. 3.

Orach ran away with the 3K that afternoon, clocking in at 8:22.55.

A week later in a tri-meet against UNH and Dartmouth in Hanover, New Hampshire, Orach triumphed in the 5,000 meters, breaking the tape in 14:54.03.

Orach finished just ahead of teammate Aaron Willingham, who was timed in 14:54.88.

UMaine finished third as a team behind Dartmouth and UNH in the meet.

The Black Bears are back in action in another tri-meet at Dartmouth on Jan. 14.

Ryan McLaughlin

About Ryan McLaughlin

BDN sports reporter Ryan McLaughlin grew up in Brewer and is a lifelong fan of the New England Patriots, Boston Red Sox, Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins. In "The Boston Blitz" he'll be sharing his perspective with BDN readers about what's happening on the Boston professional sports scene.