GORHAM, ME – The University of Southern Maine women's indoor track and field team will look for their 22nd Little East Conference title on Saturday at the 2023 LEC Indoor Championship.
 
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 21 of the 23 conference championships with Rhode Island College claiming titles in 2000 and 2019. 
 
Preview: The Huskies head into the meet ranked number six in the region and the highest ranked LEC team. The roster has a strong mix of returning members from last season's championship team and exciting rookies.
 
Reigning individual conference champions include junior Olivia Jalbert (Auburn, Maine/Edward Little) in the long jump and high jump, sophomore Ella Boucher (Auburn, Maine) in the triple jump, and the 4x400 relay of junior Rosemary Train (Long Island, Maine/Cheverus), sophomore Anna Reny (Gardiner, Maine/Cony), sophomore Heaven Conley (Ogunquit, Maine/Wells) and junior Catriona Gould (Freeport, Maine).

Several Huskies sit on top on the LEC leaderboards in their events this season. Jalbert has the best high jump (1.61m) and long jump (5.19m) marks in the conference this season and will look to defend her 2022 titles. Sophomore Olivia Mosca (Brewer, Maine) leads the LEC in the mile with a time of 5:18.37 and has the second-best time in the 3000 meters (10:41.41). Senior Sophia Slovenski (Cape Neddick, Maine/Phillips Academy) has the best pole vault clearance in the conference at 3.60m and is tied for 21^st in the nation in the event. She also has the fastest 60-meter hurdles time in the LEC at 9.50 seconds.
 
In the sprinting events the Huskies account for three of the top six times in the 60-meter dash and four of the top 200-meter dash times. Freshman Janiah Young (Perkinsville, Vt./Windsor) has the third-best time in the 60 meters (8.04 seconds) and the second fastest 200-meter time (26.57 seconds). Gould, who was the runner-up in both events last season, is also ranked in the top five in each race this season. Reny is ranked second in the 400 meters, third in the 60-meter hurdles and fifth in the 200 meters.
 
The Southern Maine jumps group is led by Jalbert and features several other athletes ranked in the top five in the conference. Freshmen Marie Prock ((Westmoreland, N.H./Keene) and Autumn Gerry (Winthrop, Maine) are ranked third and fourth in the high jump. Four of the top five leaps in the long jump belong to Huskies with Jalbert leading the way followed by Young and Slovenski while Gould is ranked fifth. In the pole vault a trio of Huskies in junior Maggie Dallaire (Biddeford, Maine), sophomore Sarah Fecteau (Gray, Maine/Gray-New Gloucester) and freshman Riley Reitchel (Palermo, Maine/Erskine Academy) are tied for the second-best mark in the league at 2.45m.
 
The Huskies also have contenders in the throwing events and account for three of the top six spots in the shot put. Sophomore Zoe Barnes (New Gloucester, Maine/Gray-New Gloucester), who finished third at the 2022 championship, is second in the conference this season and has a personal best throw of 12.52m, just 0.2 meters behind the conference leader. Senior Rona Scott (Beverly, Mass.) sits fifth on the leaderboard while senior Hannah Corbett (Sebago, Maine/Bonny Eagle) sits sixth. Corbett placed fourth in the shot put last year at the conference championship. Barnes also ranked fourth in the weight throw while Corbett is fifth.
 
The relays have been a strength for the Huskies this season with the team accounting for the best 4x200 time, the second-best 4x400 time and the third-best 4x800 time. Young, Reny, Conley and Gould (Freeport, Maine) turned in the seventh-best time in program history (1:45.53) in the 4x200 at Maine State Indoor Championships. At the same event the 4x400 team of Slovenski, junior Emma Noonan (Steep Falls, Maine/Bonny Eagle), Conley and Reitchel and the 4x800 team of freshmen Megan Lawrence (Berwick, Maine/Noble), Hailey Snedeker (Hamden, Conn.) and Anabel Melanson (West Warren, Mass./Quaboag) plus Mosca each recorded their best times.
 
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