Junior All-American Nick Kirkpatrick finished second in the 1500-meter run. (PHOTO BY Bob Blanchard) |
Kirkpatrick and 4x400 lead six top five finishes for Skyhawks
AMHERST, Mass. (April 11, 2015) – Stonehill College posted six top five finishes on its way to a sixth place team finish at the Minuteman Invitational, hosted by the University of Massachusetts, at the UMass Track & Athletic Complex today.
Stonehill compiled 62 points at the mainly Division I meet which was won by Northeastern University with 242 points. Host UMass was second with 91 points, while Central Connecticut State University rounded out the top three with 82.
Junior All-American Nick Kirkpatrick (Carmel, Indiana/Brebeuf Jesuit Prep) led the way for Stonehill with a second place finish out of 50 competitors in the 1500-meter run with a time of 4:00.05. Classmate Robert Massey (Chelmsford, Massachusetts/Chelmsford) placed 16th in 4:09.92.
Junior Mason Griffin (Wellesley, Massachusetts/Wellesley) took fourth place out of 18 throwers in the shot put with a distance of 48-feet, 6.25-inches. Freshman John Irving (Wareham, Massachusetts/Wareham) was eighth with a throw of 41-05.75, while sophomore Carmen Cilfone (Falmouth, Massachusetts/Falmouth) was tenth at 39-07.75.
Griffin was also fifth in the hammer throw by clearing a distance of 141-feet, 11-inches, while junior Morgan Johnson (West Newbury, Massachusetts/St. John's Prep) was sixth with a throw of 137-04 and freshman Stefan Balestra (Lincoln, Rhode Island/Lincoln) finished seventh at 136-02.
Senior Robert Smith (Woburn, Massachusetts/Woburn Memorial) finished fourth out of 16 runners in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 56.21-seconds.
Smith also anchored Stonehill's 4x400-meter relay team that finished second out of ten teams with a time of 3:26.17 – less than a second off the winning pace by Central Connecticut State (3:25.34). Senior All-Americans Teague Grubel (Phoenix, Arizona/Shadow Mountain) and Patrick Cooney (Douglaston, New York/Archbishop Molloy) as well as freshman Joshua Hubbell (Gloucester, Massachusetts/St. John's Prep) also ran legs for the Skyhawks relay team.
Johnson also placed sixth out of 17 throwers in the discus throw with a distance of 125-feet, 7-inches, while Balestra was 11th with a throw of 108-05.
Junior Mason Griffin was strong in both the shot put and hammer today. (PHOTO BY SportsPix) |
Grubel placed fifth out of 32 entries in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.15-seconds. Freshman Patrick Ahern (Charlotte, North Carolina/Providence Day School) finished 19th in 11.60-seconds, while classmate Daniel Stone (Potsdam, New York/Potsdam) was 24th in 11.85. The freshmen also ran 20th and 21st out of 34 entries, respectively, in the 200-meter dash in 23.72 and 23.73.
Ahern and Stone also ran as part of Stonehill's 4x100-meter relay that finished eighth in 45.67-seconds, along with fellow freshmen Jon Naval (Stratford, Connecticut/Bunnell) and Mark Hamalian (West Bridgewater, Massachusetts/Bridgewater-Raynham).
Hamalian also placed sixth out of 23 entries in the long jump with a distance of 20-feet, 10.50-inches. Hubbell was ninth with a leap of 20-03.75, while senior All-American Nick Staley (Medway, Massachusetts/BC High) finished 15th at 19-06.00 and Naval was 16th at 19-04.25.
Hubbell also finished 11th out of 21 competitors in the 400-meter dash with a time of 52.58-seconds, while sophomore Daniel Nolan (Chelmsford, Massachusetts/Chelmsford) finished seventh out of 19 runners in the 5000-meter run with a time of 15:42.25.
Cooney added a ninth place finish out of 33 entries in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:57.63. Sophomore Duncan Burleigh (Hingham, Massachusetts/Hingham) placed 12th in 1:58.33.
Stonehill's weekend got started on Friday night when senior Bryan Wilcox (Plantsville, Connecticut/Southington) won the 10,000-meter run at the Silfen Invitational-Elite Distance Events at Connecticut College with a personal-best time of 31:19.44, marking the third career 10,000-meter event win for the 2013 Northeast-10 Conference champion. Sophomore Joe Santo (Newburyport, Massachusetts/Newburyport) finished fifth in a personal-best 32:01.39.
Stonehill will compete at two events again next weekend when it participates in the Larry Ellis Invitational, hosted by Princeton University, on Friday and Saturday, as well as the Holy Cross Invitational on Saturday. Stonehill will host its 8th Annual Skyhawk Invitational on Friday, April 24, at W.B. Mason Stadium at 3:30 p.m.
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