Junior All-American Patrick Cooney won the 800-meter run and provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships today. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr) |
Cooney provisionally qualifies for nationals with first place finish
KINGSTON, R.I. (February 1, 2014) – The Stonehill College men's track and field program, ranked third in this week's U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II East Regional computer rankings, turned in a fifth place team finish at the Coaches' Tribute Meet, hosted by the University of Rhode Island, at Mackal Fieldhouse today.
Stonehill compiled 49 team points for its fifth place team finish on Saturday. The University of Connecticut won the event with 220 points, while host Rhode Island were the runners up with 98.75 points. The Skyhawks were the only non-Division I program at the meet.
Junior All-American Patrick Cooney (Douglaston, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) won the 800-meter run in 1:55.29 to provisionally qualify for the NCAA Division II Championships in Winston-Salem, N.C., next month. The time currently ranks 30th nationally.
Senior Xavier Dixon (New Bedford, Mass./New Bedford) won the 60-meter high hurdles with his time of 8.24-seconds in the final after qualifying first overall in 8.26-seconds in the prelims.
Junior All-American Daniel Zawalich (Paxton, Mass./St. John's of Shrewsbury) and sophomore Nick Kirkpatrick (Carmel, Ind./Brebeuf Jesuit Prep) finished third and fourth, respectively, in the one mile run. Zawalich placed third in 4:16.88, narrowly missing the provisional qualifying standard for the NCAA Championships, while Kirkpatrick was fourth in 4:17.70. Senior All-American Justin Blaszczyk (Saint James, N.Y./Smithtown) also placed in the top ten with an eighth place finish in 4:22.76.
Cooney and Blaszczyk also led Stonehill's 4000-meter distance medley relay team to a third place finish in 10:29.16. Blaszczyk ran the opening 1200-meter run, before Cooney ran the 400-meter leg, with senior Christopher Dooley (Weymouth, Mass./Weymouth) running the 400-meter leg and then sophomore Robert Massey (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford) completed the mile anchor leg.
Senior Xavier Dixon won the 60-meter hurdles on Saturday. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr) |
Junior Teague Grubel (Phoenix, Ariz./Shadow Mountain) finished sixth in the 60-meter dash in 7.16-seconds after qualifying fifth for the final with a time of 7.17-seconds to win his preliminary heat. Senior Michael Harris (Danvers, Mass./Danvers) placed 14th in the prelims in 7.25-seconds.
Grubel also finished eighth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.87-seconds, while junior Robert Smith (Woburn, Mass./Woburn Memorial) placed 12th in 23.14.
Senior Herby Saintil (Roslindale, Mass./BC High) placed sixth in the triple jump with a distance of 45-feet, 9-inches. He also placed 11th in the long jump with a distance of 20-feet, 00.25-inches. Smith finished 14th with a leap of 19-02.75.
Other Stonehill Highlights Include:
Senior Tyler Moules (Billerica, Mass./Billerica) placed sixth in the 500-meter dash in 1:06.93.
Freshman Matthew Baldasare (Mansfield, Mass./Mansfield) finished eighth in the 400-meter dash in 50.93-seconds.
Junior Daniel Cormier (Methuen, Mass./Methuen) placed ninth in the shot put with a distance of 45-feet, 9.25-inches, while sophomore Mason Griffin (Wellesley, Mass./Wellesley) finished tenth with a throw of 45-01.75. Cormier was also ninth in the weight throw with a distance of 50-feet, 3.50-inches.
Junior Bryan Wilcox (Plantsville, Conn./Southington) finished 11th in the 3000-meter run with his time of 8:59.14.
Stonehill is in action next Saturday when it competes at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational, hosted by Boston University at the BU Track & Tennis Center, at 9 a.m.
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