Stonehill Pair Collect NE-10 Men’s Track & Field Honors


Gelcius

Harris-Dixon

Gelcius named Athlete of the Week, Harris-Dixon tabbed Rookie of the Week

EASTON, Mass. (March 30, 2011) – Two members of the Stonehill College men's track and field team have collected weekly honors from the Northeast-10 Conference for their efforts at Saturday's season-opening Bridgewater State University Bears Invitational at Swenson Track.

Sophomore John Gelcius (Greenwich, Mass./Greenwich) earned men's Field Athlete of the Week honors for Stonehill, while freshman Xavier Harris-Dixon (New Bedford, Mass./New Bedford) collected track Rookie of the Week accolades. It marks the first Athlete of the Week award for Gelcius and first Rookie of the Week selection for Harris-Dixon through his first collegiate indoor and outdoor seasons.

Gelcius, who earned Field Rookie of the Week honors once in 2010, placed first for the javelin at Saturday's Bears Invitational with a school-record and NCAA Division II provisional qualifying distance of 196-feet, two-inches. The throw is ranked tenth overall in Division II and broke the previous record of 190-feet even set by former teammate Tom Kilby at the 2009 Bryant University Invitational. Gelcius also placed tenth in the hammer throw with a distance of 114-feet, 2.88-inches, marking the first time he has competed in the event.

Gelcius earned All-Northeast-10 honors for the javelin as a freshmen with his second place finish at the NE-10 Championships with a distance of 182-feet, three-inches. He also posted a career-best for the shot put at the event at 40-feet, 11-inches. Gelcius set a season-best of 183-feet, one-inch at the New England Championships last May. He also placed first at the Stonehill Skyhawks Invitational with a throw of 178-08, where he also placed tenth in the discus with a personal best distance of 109-feet even.

Harris-Dixon placed first in the 110-meter high hurdles on Saturday with his time of 15.22-seconds, marking his first collegiate victory, including the indoor season. He also turned in a 12th place finish in the 200-meter dash in 24.30-seconds.

Harris-Dixon is coming off an indoor season where he earned All-Northeast-10 honors for the 55-meter hurdles to teammate sophomore All-American Corey Thomas (Brookline, Mass./BC High) with a season-best time of 7.73-seconds. He posted a season-best time of 8.46-seconds in the preliminary round of the 60-meter hurdles at the New England Championships before finishing 11th at the event. Harris-Dixon also placed second at the University of New Hampshire Invitational (7.79/55m) and third at both the Jay Carisella Invitational (7.87) for 55-meters and Tufts Stampede (8.56) for 60-meters.

Stonehill is back in action on Saturday when it participates in the Bryant University Invitational in Smithfield, R.I.