Senior Patrick Cooney is part of an All-America DMR for the third time in his career. (PHOTO BY Mark Lent) |
Skyhawks post second-straight All-America finish in event
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (March 14, 2015) – Stonehill College's men's 4000-meter distance medley relay team posted a program-best third place finish to highlight day one of the 2015 NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Birmingham CrossPlex tonight.
Stonehill finished in 9:50.82 to earn All-America honors for the second-straight year and seventh time over the last nine years in the event. Seniors Daniel Zawalich (Paxton, Massachusetts/St. John's of Shrewsbury) and Patrick Cooney (Douglaston, New York/Archbishop Molloy) collect All-America honors in the DMR for the third time over their careers, while junior Nick Kirkpatrick (Carmel, Indiana/Brebeuf Jesuit Prep) earns his second.
Adams State University won the relay by just 0.03-seconds over Colorado State University-Pueblo with a winning time of 9:41.79. CSU-Pueblo was edged by Adams State in the final straight and finished in 9:41.82. Stonehill placed ahead of Colorado Mines University (9:52.28) and Grand Valley State University (9:53.74) to round out the top five.
Kirkpatrick ran the opening 1200-meter leg in 2:59.9, giving him the only two sub-3:00 opening legs in program history after doing so two weeks ago at the New England Championships, before senior Teague Grubel (Phoenix, Arizona/Shadow Mountain) completed the 400-meter leg in 50.2-seconds as he earns All-America honors for the first time in his career. Cooney followed with a 1:53.0 split in the 800-meter leg, before Zawalich brought the top three finish home with a time of 4:07.3 in the one-mile anchor leg.
Stonehill competes in three women's finals as the NCAA Championships come to a conclusion on Saturday. Senior All-America Maria Curit (Biddeford, Maine/Biddeford) qualified for the 800-meter final in the prelims tonight, while sophomore Nicole Borofski (Plymouth, Massachusetts/Plymouth North) competes in the 3000-meter run and then the women's 4x400-meter relay, which includes Curit, will cap the event.
The Stonehill men's track & field team opens its outdoor season at the UMass Lowell Invitational on Saturday, March 28, at 10 a.m.
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