Stonehill 4x800 Meter Relay Team Honored By Accusplit

Skyhawks finished with the top time in the 4x800 meter relay among all Division II teams during the 2011 outdoor track and field season

Nathan Morse
Sean Hanlon
Patrick Fullerton
Daniel Pilz

EASTON, Mass. (December 13, 2011) – Four members of the Stonehill College men's outdoor track and field team have been honored by Accusplit for posting the fastest time in the 4x800 meter relay last season among all Division II teams at the U.S Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCAAA) Convention, in San Antonio, Texas, on Tuesday morning.

Recent graduates Patrick Fullerton (Bradford, Mass./Haverhill), Daniel Pilz (Newington, Conn./Newington) and Nathan Morse (Whitinsville, Mass./Holy Name) along with rising junior Sean Hanlon (Georgetown, Mass./St. John's Prep) finished fourth overall and first among all Division II teams at the 2011 New England Intercollegiate Outdoor Track and Field Championships with a school record time of 7:37.87 shattering the ten year old school mark of 7:40.50 set at Princeton University on May 2, 2001.

For the previous 29 years, Accusplit has recognized the top relay performances from Division I outdoor track and field season. Beginning in 2011, Accusplit extended its recognition to Division II and Division II teams.

"To run the fastest time in the country for Division II was never our goal," said indoor and outdoor track & field head coach Karen Boen. "Our goal was to get our school record but to know that our school record stands as the fastest time in Division II last year makes it even more impressive."

For their efforts in the 4x800 meter relay, Fullerton, Pilz, Morse and Hanlon all earned All-New England honors.

"They ran one of the best relays that I had ever seen in Stonehill history given the fact that three out of the four runners had already run an open event," said Boen. "For all four guys to average under 1:55 per 800 was a testimony to how badly they wanted that record."

Fullerton, Pilz, Morse and Hanlon also earned All-America honors during the 2011 indoor track and field season finishing seventh overall in the distance medley relay at the NCAA Championships with a time of 10:12.85.

Accusplit has been the leader in the professional stopwatch and timing industry since 1972 with its invention of the first digital stopwatch. The company's name is based on the stopwatch's function of "accurately splitting" the time. The USTFCCCA is a non-profit professional organization representing cross country and track & field coaches of all levels. The organization represents over 8,000 coaching members encompassing 94% of all NCAA track & field programs (DI, DII, and DIII) and includes members representing the NAIA as well as a number of state high school coaches associations.

Head coach Karen Boen discusses the 4x800 meter relay team

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