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Somerset, NJ — Sacred Heart senior Arman Dixon (Beacon, NY/Beacon) turned in another MVP performance to stifle Monmouth’s drive for a fifth consecutive team title at the 2008 Northeast Conference Men’s Outdoor Track & Field Championship. Dixon single-handedly tallied 43.50 raw points to power the Pioneers past the runner-up Hawks by a 164.50 to 157.50 margin in the final team standings. Dixon’s freshman teammate Andrew Houghtalen (West Charlton, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) claimed Most Outstanding Rookie honors, while SHU head coach Christian Morrison captured the NEC Coach of the Year award. Monmouth senior thrower Christian Keller (Matawan, NJ/Matawan) took home Most Outstanding Field Performer accolades.
Despite a dominant showing by Dixon, who was named both the meet MVP and the Most Outstanding Track Performer, the meet turned when Houghtalen scored a huge victory in the 5K. The Hawks held a six-point advantage with two events remaining, but the Pioneers needed only one event to take the lead. Sacred Heart posted a 1-3-6 finish in the 5000-meter run while Monmouth settled for seventh and eighth in the event. The net result was a 16-point gain for Sacred Heart and a 10-point advantage in the team scoring with only the 4x400 relay left on the schedule. Houghtalen claimed gold for the Pioneers’, clocking in at 15:24.1, while juniors John Kentworthy (Gloversville, NY/Gloversville) and Luis German (Southampton, NY/Southampton) took third and sixth, respectively.
Earlier in the meet, Houghtalen added team points to the Pioneers’ total with his third-place showing in the 3000-meter steeple chase and his contributions to the fourth-place 3200-meter relay team.
Dixon has become synonymous with the letters NEC MVP. The three-time NEC Indoor Most Valuable Performer captured his second outdoor award in as many years. Torching a highly-competitive 400-meter field, the senior logged the best of four NCAA regional qualifying times with his 46.28 Long Island sophomore Julius Mutekanga (Fort Portal, Uganda/Uganda Christian) was the 400-meter runner-up at 46.88.
Mutekanga was barely beaten in the 800-meter race as well when Fairleigh Dickinson senior Nicholas Reid (Morristown, NJ/Essex CC) clocked in at 1:53.83, one-hundredth of a second faster than the LIU sophomore.
Dixon was also part of a meet-record relay performance. The Pioneers’ completed the 400-meter relay in 40.91, breaking the six-year old mark of 40.98 that was set by Long Island.
With Dixon hoping to complete a grueling 100-400 double, Saint Francis (PA) senior James Bush (Baltimore, MD/St. Francis Prep) stepped in the way, clocking in at 10.77 to best the field. Dixon finished third at 10.82.
The Sacred Heart senior quickly rebounded to out-duel Bush in the 200-meter dash by finishing in 21.47. Bush captured bronze in the race with his time of 21.68.
In a battle of NCAA regional qualifiers, Mount senior Ryan Martin (Williamsport, MD/Williamsport) overtook Monmouth senior Christian Keller (Matawan, NJ/Matawan), the event’s top seed, for the discus crown. Martin registered a distance of 50.72m (166’ 5”) to top Keller’s mark of 48.83m (160’ 2”). Saint Francis (PA) junior Ben Maderia (Summerhill, PA/Forest Hills) took bronze with a throw of 47.64m (156’ 3”).
St. Francis (NY) sophomore Matthew Megerdichian (Queens, NY/Molloy HS) scored a victory in the javelin 61.44m (201’ 7”).
Home-standing senior Jeff Witmyer (West Lawn, PA/Wilson) repeated his high jump crown by clearing 2.01m (6’7”). Both the Robert Morris senior and Saint Francis (PA) junior William Velez (Staten Island, NY/Benedictine) owned seed marks of 2.10m (6’ 10.75”), but the home crowd saw its man best Velez, who tied Wagner senior Bryan Pagliuca (Ronkonkoma, NY/Connetquot) for silver.
Robert Morris senior Phillips Thompson (New Castle, PA/Shenango) followed up his second-place finish in Saturday’s 10K by awarding the home crowd with a victory in the 3000-meter steeple chase when he crossed the tape in 9:20.71.
After carrying his 3200-meter relay team to a second-place finish on Saturday, Saint Francis (PA) sophomore Chris Behre (Flanders, NJ/Mt. Olive) added another medal the following day . The second-year mid-distance runner claimed gold in the 1500-meter run (3:56.75).
Mount St. Mary’s junior Quenton Beard (Frederick, MD/Frederick) topped a 110-meter hurdle field in which the top three finishers posted IC4A qualifying times. Beard clocked in at 14.70 followed by a pair of Fairleigh Dickinson Knights in second and third. Junior Thomas Mackey (Bridgeton, NJ/Bridgeton) and senior Derrick Morton (Suitland, MD/Suitland) logged times of 14.73 and 14.83, respectively.
Morton and Mackey came back to finish 1-2 in the 400-hurdle race. Morton finished first, clocking in at 53.42, while Mackey came in a .25 behind in 53.67. Morton's gold was the Knights' second individual crown on the weekend.
2008 NEC Men's Outdoor Track & Field Individual Champions
100m: James Bush Saint Francis (PA) Sr. 10.77
200m: Arman Dixon Sacred Heart Sr. 21.47
400m: Arman Dixon Sacred Heart Sr. 46.26
800m: Nicholas Reid Fairleigh Dickinson Sr. 1:53.83
1500m: Chris Behre Saint Francis (PA) So. 3:56.75
5000m: Andrew Houghtalen Sacred Heart Fr. 15:24.11
10000m: Ry Sanderson Central Connecticut State So. 32:26.70
110 Hurdles: Quenton Beard Mount St. Mary's Jr. 14.70
400 Hurdles: Derrick Morton Fairleigh Dickinson Sr. 53.42
Steeple: Phillips Thompson Robert Morris Sr. 9:20.71
400m Relay: Sacred Heart 40.91*
1600m Relay: Fairleigh Dickinson 3:12.28
3200m Relay: Monmouth 7:46.19
High Jump: Jeff Witmyer Robert Morris Sr. 2.01m (6' 7")
Pole Vault: Josh Dyzak Mount St. Mary’s Sr. 4.60m (15’ 1")
Long Jump: Arman Dixon Sacred Heart Sr. 7.35m (24’ 1.50")
Triple Jump: Nasim Siddeeq Robert Morris So. 15.56m (51' 0.75")
Shot Put: Christian Keller Monmouth Sr. 16.77 (55’ 0.25")
Discus: Ryan Martin Mount St. Mary's Sr. 50.72m (166' 5")
Javelin: Matt Megerdichian St. Francis (NY) So. 61.44m (201' 7")
Hammer: Ed Skowronski Monmouth Sr. 62.61m (205’ 5")
* - indicates new conference meet record
2008 NEC Men’s Final Team Standings (21 Events Scored)
1. Sacred Heart 164.50
2. Monmouth 157.50
3. Saint Francis (PA) 112
4. Robert Morris 102
5. Fairleigh Dickinson 73
6. Mount St. Mary's 61
6. Long Island 61
8. St. Francis (NY) 27
9. Central Connecticut State 25
10. Wagner 16
11. Quinnipiac 15