GORHAM, Maine – Junior Mike Olson (Sutton, Mass.) was blazing through his competition as he claimed a triple crown to get the Plymouth State University men's indoor track & field team to a third-place finish at this weekend's Little East Conference (LEC) Men's Indoor Track & Field Championship hosted by the University of Southern Maine.
 
Olson began his day in the mile run as he ran on his own for most of the race to lay down a dominant time of 4:22.08, breaking his season best by five seconds. He continued with a competitive performance in the 800-meters as he took his second title in a time of 1:59.87. Olson ended the day on a high note with a 4x800-meter relay winning time of 8:15.23, beating the next best team by eight seconds.
 
Plymouth State accumulated 119 points to finish third behind the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (147) and Eastern Connecticut State University (130).
 
The Basics:

• LEC Championship – Third of Eight Teams

How it Happened:

• Senior Jacob Rigoli (Essex, Vt.) jump-started the Panthers with an LEC title in the weight throw with a toss of 17.22 meters. He also put forth a fourth-place finish in the shot put with a throw of 12.49 meters.
• Junior Ian Griffiths (Bedford, Mass.) also represented in the field events as he placed sixth in the long jump after clearing 6.27 meters. He also showed up in the 55-meter dash running 6.72 seconds to place fourth in the finals.
• Senior Terrell Lewis (New Boston, N.H.) had the first season-best of the day in the high jump after reaching a height of 1.95 meters to finish second. He tacked on his first title in the 55-meter hurdles to tap the field in a season-best time of 7.72.
• The trio of junior Michael Barrett (Hartford, Conn.) and freshmen Connor Wilcox (Colchester, Conn.) and Jacob Gallaher (Gambrills, Md.) all placed in the top six of the 5000-meters. Barrett led the way with a season-best 15:57.97 to come in second, with Wilcox and Gallaher trailing behind with times of 16:21.26 and 16:27.25, respectively.
• Olson began his triple crown performance with a huge season-best of 4:22.08 in the mile, while also breaking the two-minute barrier in the 800-meters to claim his second win.
• Junior Colin Moar (Annandale, Va.) raced alongside Olson to take third in the 800-meters in a time of 2:03.61.
• Sophomore Jyaire Hatcher (Uniondale, N.Y.) put in a third-place finish in the 400-meter dash, crossing the line in 52.61.
• Sophomore Ryan Moyer (Dover, N.H.) continued the trend of season bests with one of his own in the 600-meter run after finishing second in 1:26.59.
• The duo of junior Brent Coope (Wolfeboro, N.H.) and freshman Eli Roth (Stamford, Conn.) had a strong showing in the 1000-meter run with Coope finishing in 2:40.79 and Roth not far behind with a huge season best of 2:42.10.
• The 4x800-meter relay team of Olson, Cooper, Moar and Roth struck gold with a final time of 8:15.23.
• The 4x400-meter relay team of Hatcher, Moyer, Lewis and freshman Christian Oglesby (Penacook, N.H.) and the 4x200-meter relay foursome of Griffiths, senior CJ Miller (Branford, Conn.), junior Mason Howe (Sanbornton, N.H.) and sophomore Brandon Vachon (Ayer, Mass.) had respectful showings as they finished second and fourth, respectively. Both relays put in season-best times in their efforts.

 
Up Next:

• Qualifying athletes will head to the NCAA Division III New England Championships next weekend at Middlebury College.