Nda, Luscier Earn All-America Honors at NCAA Indoor Meet
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- UMass Boston senior and Taconic High graduate Dom Nda made history Saturday afternoon as he became the first sprinter in program history to earn All-America honors at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field National Championship.
Nda earned a seventh-place finish in the men's 60M dash to earn All-America honors for the first time in his career. He's only the second male track & field athlete to earn Indoor Track & Field All-American honors. Rob Grieco won the shot put at Indoor Nationals in 1998.
Nda got off to a strong start out of the blocks, but couldn't quite hold on with the lead pack of six runners. In the end, Nda finished in 6.96 seconds for a seventh-place finish overall.
With the seventh-place finish, UMass Boston men's track & field earned two team points and currently sits 41st overall.
UMass Boston men's track & field will return to action on Friday, when they compete on Day 1 of the University of Miami Hurricane Invitational in Miami, Fla.
Springfield College's Courtney Luscier (Pittsfield, Mass.) earned the third All-America honor of her career in the 60 meter dash, as the senior took fourth overall with a time of 7.67 seconds on Saturday afternoon at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
Luscier has now established herself among the Springfield College women's indoor track and field greats, as she joins Barbara Swallow, Nikki Hay and Beth Bowler as the only student-athletes to earn three All-America honors throughout their careers at Springfield College. Luscier was also seventh in the event as a sophomore in 2016 and fourth as a junior in 2017.
Earning the fourth-fastest prelim time of 7.65 seconds on Friday, which was a new Springfield College women's indoor track and field program record, the sports biology major crossed in 7.67 seconds to take fourth overall. Winning a national title in the event was UMass Boston's Wadeline Jonathas, as she posted a time of 7.41 seconds, finishing ahead of Quinn Harlan of Roanoke, who clocked in at 7.52 seconds, while Birmingham Southern's Karmin Shute was third with a 7.61.
Taconic’s Drew DeMartino, who graduated high school midway through his senior year to attend college at the University of Hartford, has started six games and played in seven for the Hawks’ Division I baseball program. DeMartino has a .125 batting average in 24 at-bats for Hartford (1-10).
If you know a student-athlete who should be included in a future edition of College Collage, email sports@iBerkshires.com.
