GORHAM, Maine – Sophomore Emily Artesani (Orono, Maine) won two events and senior Hattie Landry (Acton, Maine/Wells) placed in the top four in four events and each athlete a ran a leg in a winning 4 x 200 meter relay team to lead the University of Southern Maine Huskies
women’s indoor track and field team to a sweep of the New England Alliance and Little East Conference championships for the eighth consecutive year Saturday in a meet held at Southern Maine’s Costello Sports Complex field house in Gorham.

In the Alliance meet, which features 11 schools from the Little East Conference and the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference, Southern Maine captured the championship with 196.50 points. Keene State was second with 119 points, followed by Rhode Island College with 86 points, Westfield State with 81 points and Eastern Connecticut State University with 77 to round out the top five.

The Huskies took the Little East crown by a large margin scoring 209 points. Keene State finished second with 117.50 points and Rhode Island College placed third with 91 points. Eastern Connecticut scored 82 points for fourth, UMass Dartmouth scored 42.50 points to finish fifth with 42.50 points and UMass Boston placed sixth tallying seven points.

Artesani defended her 2007 titles winning both the 200 and 400 meter dash as Southern Maine earned seven first place finishes in the meet.  Artesani won the 200-meter dash in a time of 26.68 and clocked a winning time of 1:00.56 in the 400-meter dash. Landry was a workhorse for the Huskies earning a first, second, third and fourth place finish scoring 29 points. Landry placed fourth in the 200-meter dash (27.28), third in the long jump (4.93 meters) and second in the 55-meter dash (7.55).  Landry took the top spot in the 55-meter hurdles crossing the finish
line in first place with a time of 8.54 seconds.

Both Artesani and Landry, joined by senior Christa Hutchinson (Gorham,Maine/Falmouth) and sophomore Sarah Hale (Naples, Maine/Lake Region), also helped Southern Maine capture 10 points winning the 4 x 200 meter relay in a time of 1:49.48. Hutchinson also earned a first place finish in the 600-meter run with a time of 1:40.56, while Hale clocked a time of 7.62 to earn a fourth place mark in the 55-meter dash. Junior Emily Poliquin (Lisbon Falls, Maine/Lisbon) and freshman Cristina Connolly (Boise, Idaho) also earned first place finishes for Southern Maine. Connolly won the pole vault clearing 3.05 meters, while Poliquin captured the triple jump with a leap of 10.80 meters. Poliquin also took a second place finish in the long jump with a distance of 4.95 meters.

Southern Maine also received solid performances from junior Gabby Cyr (Fort Kent, Maine) and freshman Vanessa Baird (Dover-Foxcroft,Maine/Foxcroft Academy). Cyr earned a second and third place mark competing in the mile and 800-meter run respectively. Cyr placed second
in the mile with a time of 5:21.25 and third in the 800-meter run in 2:26.98. Baird helped USM tally points in the field events earning a third and fourth place finish in the weight throw and shot put. In the weight throw, Baird had a distance of 11.65 meters for third and in the
shot put she placed with a throw of 9.96 meters.

Southern Maine returns to action on Saturday (February 23) at the New England Division III Championship hosted by Smith College.
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