Senior All-American Corey Thomas won both the high jump and 60-meter hurdles in the Skyhawks season-opening event. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr) |
Thomas and Staley provisionally qualify for NCAA in high jump to lead four event winners
BOSTON, Mass. (December 2, 2012) – The Stonehill College men's track and field team opened its indoor season competing at the UMass Boston Indoor Invitational hosted by the Reggie Lewis Track & Athletic Center on Saturday.
Senior All-American Corey Thomas (Brookline, Mass./BC High) and sophomore Nick Staley (Medway, Mass./BC High) both provisionally qualified for the NCAA Division II Championships in March for the high jump as both cleared 6-feet, 10.75-inches to share first place honors.
Thomas also led three Stonehill hurdlers to qualify for the 60-meter hurdles final, winning the final in 8.34-seconds, just 0.03 shy of the NCAA provisional qualifying standard. He qualified first in 8.38-seconds. Junior Xavier Harris-Dixon (New Bedford, Mass./New Bedford) placed second in 8.43-seconds after qualifying second in 8.56-seconds, while freshman Dante Bittle (Holbrook, Mass./Holbrook) finished eighth in 9.33-seconds after qualifying seventh in 9.05-seconds. Harris-Dixon was also 15th in the 200-meter dash in 24.07-seconds.
Stonehill swept the top three spots in the 3000-meter run, led by senior captain Tim Johnson (Thomaston, Conn./Thomaston) in first place with a time of 8:48.97. Senior All-American Sean Hanlon (Georgetown, Mass./St. John's Prep) took second in 8:51.97, while freshman Robert Massey (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford) was third in 8:57.68.
Junior Christopher Dooley (Weymouth, Mass./Weymouth) rounded out the event winners for Stonehill with his first place finish in the mile run with his time of 4:30.45.
Senior Tim Johnson led a Stonehill sweep of the top three spots in the 3000-meter run. |
Sophomore Daniel Cormier (Methuen, Mass./Methuen) posted a pair of top five finishes in throwing events, breaking a school record in the process. He placed second in the shot put with a school-record distance of 46-feet, 11.50-inches, breaking the previous record of 46-7.50 set by Dan Newton at the 2010 Northeast-10 Championships also at the Reggie Lewis Center.
Junior Ian Parsons (Nashua, N.H./Nashua South) placed fourth with a throw of 44-feet, 11-inches, while freshman Mason Griffin (Wellesley, Mass./Wellesley) was sixth at 42-04.75. Freshman Andrew Hastings (Broad Brook, Conn./Hebron Academy) placed 15th at 36-07.75.
Cormier was fifth in the weight throw with a distance of 46-feet, 4.75-inches, ranking third among collegiate entries.
Junior Herby Saintil (Roslindale, Mass./BC High) finished second overall, but first among collegiate competitors in the triple jump with his distance of 44-feet, 7.50-inches. Sophomore Robert Smith (Woburn, Mass./Woburn Memorial) took fourth with a leap of 42-02.25, while junior George Georgaklis (Westwood, Mass./Westwood) finished seventh at 40-07.50. Freshman Fortune Kalala (Lawrence, Mass./Central Catholic) placed eighth at 40-02.00.
Freshman Justin Howard-Callender (New Bedford, Mass./New Bedford) placed fifth in the long jump with his leap of 20-feet, 11.25-inches, while Saintil was seventh at 20-7.75. Georgaklis placed 13th at 20-00.25, with Smith 15th at 19-03.25 and Kalala 17th at 18-10.00.
Junior Christopher Dooley won the mile run. |
Seniors Luke Byrnes (Glen Head, N.Y./Chaminade) and Kevin McCann (Monroe, Conn./Masuk) placed second and third, respectively, in the pole vault. Byrnes cleared 14-feet, 1.25-inches, which matched the winning height, but he placed second on attempts. McCann placed third with his height of 13-feet, 7.25-inches.
Byrnes and McCann bookended Stonehill's 4x400-meter relay team that seventh in with its time of 3:36.04. Byrnes ran the opening leg, followed by junior Tyler Moules (Billerica, Mass./Billerica) and senior Daniel Padilla (Bronx, N.Y./Mount Saint Michael Academy) with McCann on the anchor leg.
Padilla also placed third in the 500-meter dash with his time of 1:10.20. Moules was fourth in the 800-meter run in 2:02.49.
Stonehill placed four runners in the top eight of the 5000-meter run led by junior Trent Fontanella (Pelham, N.H./Bishop Guertin) with a second place finish in 15:16.38. Junior Scott Waller (Andover, Mass./Andover) was third in 15:24.37, while classmate Nathaniel Webber (Atkinson, N.H./Central Catholic) placed sixth in 15:41.05. Sophomore Michael Gendron (Lowell, Mass./Lowell) rounded out the Skyhawks quartet with a time of 15:53.49 for eighth overall.
Junior Michael Harris (Danvers, Mass./Danvers) finished eighth in the 200-meter dash with his time of 23.50-seconds, winning his heat. He also placed tenth in the 60-meter dash, just missing out on a spot on the finals, with his time of 7.31-seconds.
Stonehill returns to action on Friday when it competes at the Reggie Poyau Invitational, hosted by Brandeis University, at Gosman Athletic Center in Waltham, Mass., at 5 p.m.
For the latest on Stonehill Athletics, follow the Skyhawks via social media on Twitter and Facebook. Fans can also download the Stonehill Skyhawks mobile app on iTunes and the Android Market.