GORHAM, Maine – The University of Southern Maine men's indoor track and field team, which is ranked eighth in the East region, will compete at the 2023 Little East Conference Indoor Championship on Saturday.
 
When and Where: Saturday, February 18, 2023 – Plymouth State University – Bank of New Hampshire Field House
 
Participating Teams: Castleton, Eastern Connecticut State, Keene State, Plymouth State, Rhode Island College, UMass Boston, and UMass Dartmouth.
 
History: The Huskies have won 14 LEC championships highlighted by five in a row from 2015-2019.
 
Preview: At eighth in the region the Huskies are the second-highest ranked LEC team behind sixth-ranked UMass Dartmouth. Last season the Huskies placed fourth at the conference championship.
 
A top returner for the Huskies is junior Ben Drummey (Biddeford, Maine), the 2022 NCAA Division III national champion in the pole vault. Drummey placed first in the event at the 2022 LEC Championship with a mark of 4.95m and earned First Team All-Conference and All-Rookie honors. Senior Riley Peterson (Barnet, Vt./St. Johnsbury), the 2020 LEC champion in the event, earned Second Team All-LEC honors by placing second last season. This season Drummey and Peterson have the top two marks in the conference while freshman Christian Burke (York, Maine) sits third in the conference followed by junior Alyas Ahmady (South Portland, Maine), who placed third at the 2022 LEC Championship. Drummey's mark of 4.80m is the 17^th best mark in the country and best in the region this season. Peterson is tied for third in the region with a clearance of 4.60m.

Burke, a two-time LEC Field Rookie of the Week, is the conference leader in the high jump at 1.95m while sophomore Jacob Jackson (Auburn, Maine) is ranked third. Jackson is also ranked sixth in the long jump and seventh in the triple jump.
 
Senior Antoine Grace (Queensbury, N.Y.) is a top contender in the 60-meter dash and 200-meter dash. Grace is in his first indoor track and field season for the Huskies after previously being a wrestler and competing during the outdoor season. He has the second-fastest 60-meter time in the LEC this season at 7.12 seconds (converted) and the third-fastest 200-meter time (23.00 seconds).
 
Other noteworthy track athletes for the Huskies include junior Jack Pecoraro (Westbrook, Maine), junior Scott Lightbody (Kennebunk, Maine), sophomore Jordan Duplessie (Caribou, Maine) and senior Cody Mathewson (Lebanon, Conn./ Lyman Memorial). Pecoraro has the fifth-best 800-meter time (2:00.35) and the ninth-best 1000-meter time (2:40.25) in the conference. Lightbody ranks sixth in the 1000 meters (2:38.90) and seventh in the mile (4:30.88). Duplessie has the fourth-best time in the 5000 meters (15:38.88) and also rates in the top 10 in the mile (4:30.66). Mathewson has recorded top 10 times in the conference in the 3000 meters (9:07.33) and the 5000 meters (15:48.08).
 
Junior Kaleb Frey (Gray, Maine/Gray-New Gloucester) ranks in the top 10 in both the shot put (12.83m) and the weight throw (13.21m). The 4x200 relay team of junior Ethan Shain (Sanford, Maine), sophomore Nolan Winslow (Poland, Maine), sophomore Chris Hatch (Westbrook, Maine), freshman DeAnthony Evans (Westbrook, Maine) have the second-fastest time this season.
 
How to Follow Along: The event can be watched live at https://www.littleeast.tv/ and live results can be found http://www.802timing.com