Spalik Stars as Liberty League Meet Decided in Last Event

by: 

Wally Johnson

Justin Spalik was named the outstanding performer at the Liberty League Championships

                Justin Spalik was named the men's Outstanding Performer of the 2010 Liberty League Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Newell Field House Saturday, but Rensselaer was able to successfully defend its team title, fending off the Saints with a win in the final event of the day.

                St. Lawrence and RPI battled back and forth in the team scoring throughout the day and with just one event, the 4x200 relay, to go, the two teams were tied  at 168-168 after RPI won the 4x400 with the Saints finishing second.  RPI then won the 4x200 in a Liberty League record time with the Saints finishing third giving the Engineers a 178-174 victory with Union third with 69 points and Hamilton fourth with 62.

                The Saints had a number of outstanding performances in the meet, including a pair of wins from Dan Ramsey and a couple of high-scoring events.

                Spalik, who will compete in the NYSCTC multi-event championship later this month, had a busy day with a win in the long jump at 6.67 meters, a second in the 55 hurdles in 7.97 seconds. He also competed in the shot put, but did not score. Sean Scott won the triple jump for the Saints with a 13.06 meter (42-10.25) series and was third in the long jump.

The Saints scored 25 points in the mile run to open up a lead on RPI in the team race as Ramsey won in 4:17.64, Andrew Goodwin finished second and Josh LeBlanc was third with Michael Fox also scoring in the event with a sixth place finish. Ramsey came back to win the 800 meters in 1:57.11 with Chris Funch fifth and Terrance Fox finishing sixth.

The Distance Medley Relay team of Geoff Millard, Jacob Malcomb, Jeremy Beaudette and Terrance Fox set a Liberty League record, winning in 10:39.91.

                Jones improved the Liberty League record in the weight throw by nearly a full meter, throwing 18.19 (59-8.75) to top the mark established by SLU's Bryan Tolcser in 2004. Jones picked up points in the shot put, finishing third with a 12.35 meter throws and in the 55 dash with a fifth place finish in addition to his performance in the weight throw, accounting for 18 points in the meet.

                Seith Jackson won the 5000 meters in 15:23.59, leading another 25 point event for the Saints with John Johnston finishing second, Jeremy Beaudette third and Alex Calderwood sixth.

                Other scorers for the Saints included Bradley Williams who was second in the 55 meter dash, , Leif Frymire, who was third in the 400, AJ Blaisdell, fourth in the weight throw and fifth in the shot put,  and Nick Mellow, who finished fifth in the 200.

                The Saint 4x400 tam of Millard, Mello, Jacob Fredericks and Chris Funch was second in 3:32.24 and the 4x200 team of Brad Williams, Spalik, Frymire and Sean Scott finished third.