LeBlanc, Ivanov and Marrone Player of the Week Honors

LeBlanc and Ivanov earn men's track honor; Marrone collects women's honor with fifth place finish

FITCHBURG, Mass. (January 20, 2009) - Fitchburg State sophomore Alex LeBlanc (Ashburnham, Mass./Oakmont), junior Alex Ivanov (Carlisle, Mass./Concord-Carlisle) and freshman Katrina Marrone (Springfield, Mass./Springfield Central) were tabbed indoor track's MASCAC Players of the Week in their respective sports by the conference office.

KATRINA MARRONE

Ivanov earns his first track and field athlete of the week honor after coming off a career week for the Falcons. Ivanov started his two event week off with a bang as he broke the program's all-time points record in the men's indoor track pentathlon. Ivanov posted an overall score of 3,126, defeating the previous mark of 3,120 held by Chris Coutu in 1996. Later in the week, Ivanov became the first Fitchburg State men's indoor track member to officially compete in the NCAA Men's Indoor Track heptathlon.

LeBlanc collects his first field athlete of the week honor after placing first overall in the Tuft's Winter Invitational pole vault. LeBlanc bettered his Division III New England leading mark with a winning vault of 14 feet 9 inches.  

Marrone also had a solid weekend for the Fitchburg State women's indoor track team with two top five finishes. Marrone earns her first track athlete of the week honor, after placing fifth individually in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:36.44. Later in the day, Marrone qualified for the NCAA Division III New England Championships with the women's 4x200 relay team as the squad posted a fourth place finish with a time of 1:59.29.

The Fitchburg State men's and women's indoor track teams will be in action again this weekend as they travel to Boston University for a meet on Friday and Saturday.