Junior John Gelcius placed ninth overall with a school-record distance of 207-feet, 8-inches. (PHOTO BY Blake Wood)

Greenwich, Conn., native narrowly misses out on first All-America award in NCAA Championships debut despite record performance

PUEBLO, Colo. (May 26, 2012) – Stonehill College junior John Gelcius (Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich) broke his own school record to place ninth overall in the javelin throw to start day three of the 2012 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships, hosted by Colorado State University-Pueblo, at Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl this afternoon.

Gelcius broke his own school record with a distance of 207-feet, 8-inches, surpassing his previous best of 204-8 in his third place finish at the New England Championships two weeks ago to clinch a spot at the NCAA Championships. He placed ninth in the field of 16 throwers on Saturday, missing out on All-America status (top eight) by 3-feet, 7-inches.

Bloomsburg University sophomore Justin Shirk won the event with a distance of 235-11, while Pittsburg State University senior Mike Beeler finished second at 233-00. Gelcius was the top finisher among two Northeast-10 Conference qualifiers as Southern Connecticut State University sophomore Omar Gonzalez placed tenth at 205-03.

Gelcius reached his record distance on his first attempt to earn a spot in the event finals. In the finals, he was unable to improve on his record distance, reaching a best of 199-3.73 on his final attempt.

On Friday, junior Corey Thomas (Brookline, Mass./BC High) and freshman Nicholas Staley (Medway, Mass./BC High) both finished ninth in the high jump as both cleared 6-feet, 10.75-inches to narrowly miss out on All-America honors as well.

Stonehill, ranked third in the most recent USTFCCCA Division II East Regional ratings index, placed second at the NE-10 Outdoor Championships for the second-straight year this spring to go with its program-best third place showing at the New England Championships.