Senior All-American Corey Thomas broke his two indoor records in the 60-meter hurdles and high jump, posting the top high jump in the country this winter, in posting a pair of event wins tonight. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr) |
Skyhawk senior All-American posts top high jump in Division II and breaks two school-records with winning performances
BOSTON, Mass. (January 25, 2013) – Senior All-American Corey Thomas (Brookline, Mass./BC High) stole the show in leading the Stonehill College men's track and field team to a fifth place team finish at the Joe Donahue Collegiate Indoor Games, hosted by Northeastern University, at the Reggie Lewis Track & Athletic Center tonight.
Thomas broke his own school records in two events and improved his qualification standards for the NCAA Championships in Birmingham, Ala., in March for both the high jump and 60-meter high hurdles. Thomas posted the top jump in Division II this season and eighth-best in all levels of NCAA track and field as he cleared a school-record 7-feet, 3-inches to win the high jump. He broke his own previous indoor record of 7-2.25 set at the 2010 New England Indoor Championships, hosted by Boston University.
Thomas also clipped his own school record in the 60-meter hurdles as he won the event in 8.04-seconds – 0.17-seconds faster than the second place runner. The time improves his NCAA provisional qualifying standard by 0.14-seconds with the eighth-fastest time in Division II this season. He broke his own previous school record of 8.07-seconds set at the 2012 New England Championships, hosted by Boston University, last February. Thomas qualified first for the final in 8.16-seconds.
Sophomore Nick Staley (Medway, Mass./BC High) placed second to Thomas in the high jump with a height of 6-feet, 6-inches. Junior Xavier Dixon (New Bedford, Mass./New Bedford) finished third in the 60-meter hurdles final with his time of 8.23-seconds after qualifying second behind Thomas in 8.32 during the prelims.
Senior Luke Byrnes broke his own school record in the pole vault. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr) |
Senior All-American Sean Hanlon (Georgetown, Mass./St. John's Prep) led three Stonehill runners in the top ten of the 1000-meter run with his third place finish in 2:29.96. Freshman Nick Kirkpatrick (Carmel, Ind./Brebeuf Jesuit Prep) placed seventh in 2:32.98, while senior Tim Johnson (Thomaston, Conn./Thomaston) finished eighth in 2:33.01.
Senior Luke Byrnes (Glen Head, N.Y./Chaminade) broke his own school record in the pole vault as he cleared 14-feet, 11-inches to place fourth overall. He broke his previous record height of 14-7.25 set at the 2012 Boston University Valentine Invitational last February.
Stonehill's 4x800-meter relay team placed second to the University of New Hampshire with a time of 7:59.94. Running the event for the Skyhawks were Kirkpatrick on the lead leg, followed by freshman Robert Massey (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford), junior All-American Justin Blaszczyk (Saint James, N.Y./Smithtown) and sophomore All-American Daniel Zawalich (Paxton, Mass./St. John's of Shrewsbury) on the anchor leg.
Zawalich also posted a fourth place finish in the one mile run with his time of 4:18.35, while Massey took sixth in 4:20.42.
Junior Tyler Moules (Billerica, Mass./Billerica) turned in a third place finish in the 500-meter dash with a time of 1:07.27.
Moules also anchored Stonehill's 4x400-meter relay team that finished in fourth place in 3:30.47. Staley ran the lead leg, followed by senior Daniel Padilla (Bronx, N.Y./Mount Saint Michael Academy) and sophomore Robert Smith (Woburn, Mass./Woburn Memorial).
Senior All-American Sean Hanlon turned in a strong third place finish in the 1000-meters. |
Other Stonehill Highlights Include:
Sophomore Daniel Cormier (Methuen, Mass./Methuen) placed eighth in the weight throw with a distance of 49-feet, 1-inch. Freshman Morgan Johnson (West Newbury, Mass./St. John's Prep) placed 12th with a throw of 42-11.75, while classmate Mason Griffin (Wellesley, Mass./Wellesley) was 13th at 39-3.00.
Cormier was also eighth in the shot put with a distance of 46-feet even. Griffin placed 12th with a throw of 42-10.75, while Johnson was 17th at 39-4.50.
Sophomore All-American Patrick Cooney (Douglaston, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) led a trio of Stonehill runners in the 800-meter run with a ninth place finish (out of 34) in 1:57.92. Junior Christopher Dooley (Weymouth, Mass./Weymouth) ran 14th in 1:58.50, while senior Sam Spencer (Seekonk, Mass./Seekonk) finished 15th in 1:58.58.
Sophomore Teague Grubel (Phoenix, Ariz./Shadow Mountain) placed ninth in the 60-meter dash, just missing out on qualifying for the finals, with his time of 7.24-seconds. Junior Michael Harris (Danvers, Mass./Danvers) finished 13th (in the field of 38) in 7.28-seconds.
Grubel also led three Stonehill sprinters in the top 15 of the 200-meter dash with his tenth place finish in 23.07-seconds. Harris placed 12th in 23.19-seconds, while senior Colin Prior (Georgetown, Mass./St. John's Prep) finished 13th in 23.34.
Senior Ethan Penney (Haverhill, Mass./Haverhill) led four Stonehill runners in the 3000-meter run with a tenth place finish, out of 34 runners, in 8:48.43. Junior Scott Waller (Andover, Mass./Andover) finished 13th in 8:49.32.
Freshman Fortune Kalala (Lawrence, Mass./Central Catholic) placed tenth in the triple jump with a distance of 40-feet, 4-inches. Junior George Georgaklis (Westwood, Mass./Westwood) finished 13th at 39-10.75.
Stonehill returns to action next Saturday when it competes at the URI Coaches Tribute Meet, hosted by the University of Rhode Island, at 11 a.m.
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