Figuereo, Holt Lead Warriors at Harvard Open
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Led by a second consecutive impressive performance by first-year sophomore Noelia Figuereo (Haverhill, Mass.), as well as a stellar debut from first-year senior Artis Holt (Baltimore, Md.), the Merrimack track and field team ran to another impressive weekend at the Harvard Invitational on Saturday afternoon.
No team score was kept at the event that featured a number of Ivy League and other Division I opponents, as well as other Division II and Division III schools, as well. But the Warriors ran well beyond what their third year as a varsity program may indicate on the way to posting several impressive individual results.
For the second straight week, Figuereo was the star on the women's side. The Haverhill, Mass., native clinched a spot in the 55 meter finals after running to a 7.62, third-place finish in the preliminaries. In the finals, Figuereo blew away the field, winning the race with a time of 7.00 even, one of the best times by a Division II runner this season.
In the 200 meter dash, Figuereo was equally impressive. The rookie sophomore finished in second behind Northeastern's Camille Gooden with a time of 25.66, marking her third top-three finish in three races dating back to last week's UMass-Boston Invitational.
Moving over to the men's side, Holt – a senior defensive back on the Merrimack football team who walked on to the track and field team this year – wasted no time in leading the pack for the Warriors. The senior sprinter placed second in the preliminaries of the 55 meter dash before finishing in 12th in the finals with a time of 6.66 even.
In the middle distance, graduate student Ethan Weaver (Brooklyn, Conn.) notched a top-10 finish in the 400 meter dash, finishing in sixth with a time of 51.01.
Finally, junior Denzel Livingston (Billerica, Mass.) rounded out the group with a 10th-place finish in the men's long jump, finishing with a distance of 6.46 meters in the final leap.
The Warriors will now enjoy the next few weeks off for final exams and the end-of-semester break. Merrimack returns to the track on Saturday, Jan. 19 (2013) at the Benyon Invitational
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