Junior All-American Matt Baldasare won the 200-meter dash and ran a leg of Stonehill's 4x400 relay. (PHOTO BY Mark Connolly)

Baldasare, Naval and Dowd all post first place finishes on Sunday

WORCESTER, Mass. (April 24, 2016) – Stonehill College churned out three event wins to highlight Sunday at the Holy Cross Invitational, hosted by College of the Holy Cross, at Hart Track today.

Junior All-American Matt Baldasare (Mansfield, Massachusetts/Mansfield) won the 200-meter dash in 22.94-seconds, leading a pack five Stonehill sprinters in the event, from which four finished in the top five. Sophomore Joshua Hubbell (Gloucester, Massachusetts/St. John's Prep) placed third in 23.31-seconds, while freshman Michael Mejias Jr. (Lynn, Massachusetts/St. John's Prep) finished fourth in a personal-best 23.48-seconds and sophomore Patrick Ahern (Charlotte, North Carolina/Providence Day School) rounded out the top five in 23.68.

Baldasare and Ahern were also part of Stonehill's 4x100-meter relay which posted a time of 42.94-seconds to place second. Sophomore Ruddy Severino (Methuen, Massachusetts/Methuen) ran the lead leg, followed by freshman Joe Connolly (Wilmington, Massachusetts/Austin Prep) and then Ahern before Baldasare completed the anchor leg.

Mejias, Jr., also finished eighth in the 100-meter dash in a personal-best 11.42-seconds, while Severino was second in the 400-meter dash in a personal-best 51.11-seconds. Hubbell and sophomore Jonathan Naval (Stratford, Connecticut/Bunnell) finished second and third, respectively, in the long jump. Hubbell cleared 20-feet, 8-inches, while Naval posted a distance of 20-05.00. Naval followed that up by winning the triple jump with a season-best distance of 44-feet, 1.50-inches.

Freshmen Riley Dowd (Peabody, Massachusetts/Peabody Veterans Memorial) and David Lockhart (Stoughton, Massachusetts/Stoughton) took the top two spots in the 1500-meter run, leading four Skyhawks in the field of seven entries from which four finished in the top five. Dowd won the event in a personal-best 4:00.52, while Lockhart placed second in a personal-best 4:03.04 and classmate Christopher Drace (Franklin, New Jersey/Pope John XXIII) finished fourth in 4:04.34.

Sophomore Stefan Balestra (Lincoln, Rhode Island/Lincoln) and senior Mason Griffin (Wellesley, Massachusetts/Wellesley) placed second and third, respectively, in the hammer throw. Balestra recorded a distance of 163-feet, even, while Griffin posted a throw of 139-11. Griffin also finished second in the shot put with a season-best distance of 48-feet, 10.00-inches and fourth in the discus throw with a personal-best distance of 121-feet, 8-inches and Balestra took fifth at 117-10.

Freshman Riley Dowd won the 1500-meter run on Sunday. (PHOTO BY Mark Connolly)

Freshman Stephen Vercollone (Pembroke, Massachusetts/Pembroke) led nine Stonehill entries in the 800-meter run with his third place finish in 1:56.78. Junior Duncan Burleigh (Hingham, Massachusetts/Hingham) was right behind in fourth in a season-best 1:56.93, while sophomore Jason Dimmick (Sutton, Massachusetts/Sutton) placed sixth in the field of 22 entries in 1:57.89.

Stonehill finished the day with 108 points to finish third behind the two Division I programs competing. Host Holy Cross led the way with 138 points, while the University of Maine finished with 118.

Other Stonehill Highlights Included:

Sophomore Jordan Sullivan (Sound Beach, New York/Miller Place) placed second in the high jump by clearing a height of 6-feet, 2.75-inches.

Freshman Chase LeMay (Clinton, Connecticut/The Morgan School) finished second in the 110-meter high hurdles with a personal-best time of 16.06-seconds.

Sophomore Anthony Innamorati (Clinton, Massachusetts/Clinton) took third in the pole vault with a height of 13-feet, 9.25-inches.

Sophomore James Murphy (Mansfield, Massachusetts/Mansfield) placed fourth in the 3000-meter steeplechase in a personal-best 10:01.87.

Junior Antonio Xelhua (Arlington, Massachusetts/Arlington) finished seventh out of 14 runners in the 5000-meter run in a season-best 15:57.96.

Stonehill returns to action next Saturday when it hosts its annual Skyhawk Invitational at W.B. Mason Stadium on Saturday, April 30, at 10:30 a.m. The Skyhawks will open their outdoor championship season the following weekend, May 6-7, at the Northeast-10 Conference Championships, hosted by American International College, in Springfield, Massachusetts.

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