Quinnipiac University
New England Championships
Shameal Samuels Breaks 27-Year-Old Meet Record On Her Way to Capturing 400m New England Championship For Second Straight Year
2/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Indoor Track & Field
- QU Women's Indoor Track & Field Home Page
- QU Women's Indoor Track & Field 2014-15 Schedule
- 2015 New England Championships Results
BOSTON, Massachusetts – Breaking records has become the norm for Quinnipiac women's indoor track and field's Shameal Samuels (Hartford, Connecticut) but among all her individual achievements, nothing comes close to her awe-inspiring performance at the 2015 New England Championships. After qualifying for the 400m finals with a blistering time of 54.01 seconds on Friday, Samuels saved plenty of gas in the tank to break a 27-year-old meet record on Saturday with an impeccable time of 53.72 seconds. Samuels' jaw-dropping sprint to the finish line captured the 400m New England Championship for the second straight season as her effort led the Bobcats to an 11th place result (out of 25 teams) at the Boston Univ. Track Center.
"I'm extremely proud of Shameal for all her accomplishments and the strides she's made as a runner throughout her time at Quinnipiac," said Quinnipiac head coach Carolyn Martin. "She's doing a great job and Coach Steve (Belanger) has done a fantastic job developing her as a sprinter. Shameal and Steve work great together and you can see that their hard work is paying off in these races. Every time she steps onto the track she's getting better and I couldn't ask for a more well-rounded woman to achieve this success."
Samuels' triumph on Saturday places her into elite company as she is now the two-time defending New England 400m Champion. The 2015 MAAC Most Outstanding Women's Track Performer didn't disappoint as her time of 53.72 seconds breaks the 27-year-old meet record previously held by Boston University's Mirian Knijin (53.81 seconds) from the 1988 New England Championships. Her record-setting time also breaks the QU program record which she had set one day earlier (54.01 seconds) in the 400m preliminaries.
Samuels' victory in the 400m earned 10 points in the team standings for Quinnipiac and helped set the tone for a successful day at the Boston Univ. Track Center, continuing with the 4x800m relay that scored a runner-up finish out of 21 teams. Quinnipiac's team of Cori Reid (Old Saybrook, Connecticut), Darby Ginley (Warwick, New York), Chelsea Savage (Pembroke, Massachusetts) and Medinah Nabadduka (Windsor, Connecticut) didn't hold back and combined for a time of 9:10.22 in the relay event. That relay time is good enough to qualify for the ECAC Championships next weekend and is the second-fastest in program history, falling just short of the 9:05.69 established back in the 2013 New England Championships.
Freshman Leah Pfrommer (Killingworth, Connecticut) made a little history as well, becoming the first Bobcat in program history to place in the long jump event at the New England Championships. Pfrommer came through with a jump of 5.41m to claim 7th place and earn two points for QU in the team standings.
Fellow freshman classmate Jessica Lee (Montgomery, New Jersey) continued her impressive rookie campaign as she took 5th place overall in the 60m hurdles. Needing to advance through two preliminary rounds first, Lee still had plenty of energy left to finish in 8.87 seconds in the 60m hurdle finals. Also of note, Lee was the only freshman in the event to have advanced to the finals.
Two Bobcat 3000m runners both performed well on Saturday as freshmen Emily Wolff (Highlands Ranch, Colorado) and Kaleigh Roberts (Higganum, Connecticut) were neck-and-neck in the final standings. Wolff managed to leg one out in the end, finishing in 6th place overall with a time of 9:55.41 to earn the Bobcats three points in the standings. Roberts finished in 9th place, just one spot outside of points, as she clocked in at 9:58.88. Both Wolff and Roberts finished with new personal-bests in the 3000m in the day's action.
Junior Tracy Campbell (Wall Township, New Jersey) made some personal history on Saturday as she placed in the New England Championships for the first time in her career. Campbell managed to put together a time of 3:03.03 in the 1000m to claim 8th place, earning one point in the team standings for the Bobcats.
The final Bobcat to place on the day was sophomore Alyson Caron (Andover, New Jersey) who put together a new personal-best time of 1:17.26 to finish 6th overall in the 500m. After not competing in any events as a freshman in 2013-14, Caron immediately is making waves placing in the 500m in her first career New England Championships.
"Overall we ran great today," Martin said. "We're still holding back for the start of the outdoor season but to come up with 29 points today without fielding runners in the 4x400m relay and DMR is very impressive. I couldn't be happier with my team and coaches today and we're looking for more great results at the ECAC Championships next weekend."
The 2014-15 indoor track and field season will conclude next weekend when the Bobcats compete in the ECAC Championships from March 7-8 at the Boston Univ. Track Center.
Contact: Maxx McNall; maxx.mcnall@quinnipiac.edu
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