Stonehill Finishes 20th at 49th Colonial Relays


Senior Taylor Viotto placed seventh overall in the javelin throw, provisionally qualifying for the upcoming NCAA Championship?

Viotto places seventh in javelin, provisionally qualifies for NCAA Championships
Dixon takes third in 110-meter hurdles after qualifying for nationals on Friday
 

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (April 5, 2014) – Stonehill College compiled 15 points on its way to a 20th place finish at the 49th Colonial Relays, hosted by William & Mary University, at Zable Stadium today.

Senior Taylor Viotto (Washington, N.J./Warren Hills) placed first in his section and seventh overall for the javelin throw and provisionally qualified for the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships next month in Allendale, Mich., with a distance of 190-feet, 7-inches. Classmate Alex Willgoos (Newington, Conn./Newington) finished 18th out of the 27 entries in the unseeded section with a throw of 138-07.

Senior Xavier Dixon (New Bedford, Mass./New Bedford) finished third in the 110-meter high hurdles final this afternoon with his time of 14.68-seconds to earn eight points for Stonehill in the team standings. He provisionally qualified for the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Friday's preliminary run with his time of 14.47-seconds which currently ranks 12th nationally.

Bucknell University won the team title with 101.20 points, followed by Rutgers University (86.20) and Virginia Tech (74). Stonehill finished ranked second among Division II programs at the meet.

Sophomore Andrew Hastings (Broad Brook, Conn./Hebron Academy) placed fourth in the unseeded section of the discus throw with a distance of 132-feet, even.

Stonehill placed eighth out of 27 teams in the 4x400-meter relay with a time of 3:28.60. Freshman All-American Matt Baldasare (Mansfield, Mass./Mansfield) ran the lead leg, followed by senior Tyler Moules (Billerica, Mass./Billerica), junior Teague Grubel (Phoenix, Ariz./Shadow Mountain) and junior Robert Smith (Woburn, Mass./Woburn Memorial).


Senior Xavier Dixon earned a top eight finish in the 110-meter hurdles with third overall.

Baldasare, Dixon, Grubel and Smith were all part of Stonehill's 4x100-meter run with its time of 42.99-seconds that finished 14th out of 22 teams. Smith led off for the Skyhawks, followed by Grubel, Dixon and Baldasare. 

Other Stonehill highlights include: 

Stonehill took 16th in the 4x1500-meter relay, establishing a school record time of 16:40.53. Senior Trent Fontanella (Pelham, N.H./Bishop Guertin) led off for the Skyhawks, while classmate Paul Cina (Pembroke, Mass./Pembroke) followed and handed off to junior Michael Gendron (Lowell, Mass./Lowell) before freshman Tyler Henseler (Coventry, R.I./Bishop Hendricken) ran the anchor leg.

 

Stonehill's 4x800-meter relay took 23rd with a time of 7:58.13. Junior All-American Daniel Zawalich (Paxton, Mass./St. John's of Shrewsbury) ran the lead leg, followed by senior All-American Justin Blaszczyk (Saint James, N.Y./Smithtown), sophomore Robert Massey (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford) and junior All-American Patrick Cooney (Douglaston, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy).

 

Stonehill is back in action next Saturday when it competes at the Minuteman Invitational, hosted by the University of Massachusetts, starting at 11:30 a.m. Stonehill, which will host its annual home Skyhawk Invitational on Friday, April 25, is also the host of the 2013 Northeast-10 Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships at W.B. Mason Stadium on Friday and Saturday, May 2-3.

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