Paxton, Massachusetts, senior All-American earns honor for first time
Northeast-10 Weekly Track & Field Release
EASTON, Mass. (January 29, 2015) – Stonehill College senior All-American Daniel Zawalich (Paxton, Massachusetts/St. John's of Shrewsbury) has been named the Northeast-10 Conference Track Athlete of the Week by the league office.
Zawalich led Stonehill at the University of Rhode Island's Sorlien Invitational on Saturday by provisionally qualifying for the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships at CrossPlex Complex in Birmingham, Alabama, in March with his fifth place finish in the 3000-meter run. His race time of 8:26.54, which then converted for the flat track, gives him the seventh-ranked time in the country to date at 8:20.72. It marks the third time in his career he has provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships as an individual after doing so in the one mile run as a freshman and sophomore.
Zawalich has competed at two events for Stonehill this season, winning the mile at the Tufts Invitational on January 17 in 4:18.69, while also running a leg with the Skyhawks' 4x800-meter relay in that event which finished second in 8:07.12. He was also a member of Stonehill's cross country program that finished second at both the Northeast-10 Conference and NCAA Division II East Regional and made a 12th straight trip to the NCAA Division II Championships this fall.
Zawalich is a two-time All-American over the course of his career at Stonehill, both awards coming as part of the Skyhawks' 4000-meter distance medley relay team. His most recent honor came at the 2014 NCAA Indoor Championships in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, when he ran the one mile anchor leg as the Skyhawks finished seventh in 9:58.33. He also ran the mile anchor in 2012 as Stonehill finished sixth in 10:04.69 for his first career All-America honors.
Zawalich is a 12-time U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-East Region performer after collecting six awards as a junior, including cross country honors. He is a six-time All-New England performer, including one for the 1500-meter run at the 2013 New England Outdoor Championships, and is a three-time All-Northeast-10 Conference performer in track & field, to go with one in cross country. He has been part of two NE-10 indoor championships with the DMR (2012 & 2013) and also won the 1500-meter run at the 2014 NE-10 Outdoor Championships.
The Stonehill men's track & field program is back in action on Saturday when it competes at the John Thomas Terrier Invitational, hosted by Boston University, at the BU Track & Tennis Center starting at 9 a.m.
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