Griffin & Taxter Lead Men's Track & Field at New England Championships


Senior Mason Griffin provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships and earned All-New England honors for the first time in the shot put today.

Skyhawks finish weekend with four All-New England performances to place 14th in team standings

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (May 14, 2016) – Stonehill College turned in three more All-New England performances on day two of the 2016 New England Outdoor Track & Field Championships, hosted by Southern Connecticut State University, to bring its season to a close with a 14th place team finish at Jess Down Field today.

Senior Mason Griffin (Wellesley, Massachusetts/Wellesley) put a stamp on his collegiate career with a fifth place finish in the shot put to earn All-New England honors for the first time after just missing with a pair of ninth place finishes earlier in his career. Griffin broke his own school record with a distance of 52-feet, 7.50-inches to provisionally qualify for the NCAA Division II Championships for the first time in his career. The throw, which surpassed his previous program mark of 51-06.5 set at the 2015 Skyhawk Invitational, ranks 42nd nationally among Division II throwers.

Freshman Lucas Taxter (Readville, Massachusetts/Xaverian Brothers) posted the top finish for Stonehill on day two with his second place finish in the 1500-meter run to earn All-New England honors for the first time in his career in 3:54.82. Senior Robert Massey (Chelmsford, Massachusetts/Chelmsford) rounded out the top ten in his final collegiate race with a season-best time of 3:58.75.

Stonehill's 4x800-meter relay turned in an All-New England performance with a seventh place finish, good for first among Division II entries, with a time of 7:53.44. Collecting All-New England honors for their efforts were freshman Stephen Vercollone (Pembroke, Massachusetts/Pembroke), who ran the lead leg, followed by junior Duncan Burleigh (Hingham, Massachusetts/Hingham) and freshman David Lockhart (Stoughton, Massachusetts/Stoughton), with sophomore Jason Dimmick (Sutton, Massachusetts/Sutton) completing the anchor leg.


Freshman Lucas Taxter earned All-New England honors with a second place finish in the 1500-meter run. (PHOTO BY Bob Blanchard)

Stonehill's four All-New England performances over the two days produced 16 points to place 14th in the team standings, fourth among Division II programs competing at the event. Northeastern University won the team championship with 156 points, with the University of Rhode Island second with 127.50 and host Southern Connecticut State rounding out the top three with 65 points to lead the Division II programs.

Stonehill's 4x100-meter relay finished 13th in 42.74-seconds. Sophomore Ruddy Severino (Methuen, Massachusetts/Methuen) ran the lead leg for the Skyhawks, followed by classmates Joshua Hubbell (Gloucester, Massachusetts/St. John's Prep) and Patrick Ahern (Charlotte, North Carolina/Providence Country Day), with junior All-American Matt Baldasare (Mansfield, Massachusetts/Mansfield) running the anchor leg.

Severino, Ahern and Baldasare also competed on Stonehill's 4x400-meter relay which also finished 13th in 3:22.06, good for third among Division II entries. Severino again ran the lead leg, followed by Ahern and then freshman Daniel Madsen (West Haven, Connecticut/Notre Dame-West Haven) before Baldasare completed the anchor.

Burleigh led three Stonehill runners in the 800-meter run with a 23rd place finish in 1:54.83, finishing just ahead of Dimmick in 24th place in 1:55.58 and Vercollone placed 28th in 1:57.17.

Sophomore Anthony Innamorati (Clinton, Massachusetts/Clinton) collected All-New England honors for Stonehill on Friday with his seventh place finish in the pole vault, clearing a program-record matching height of 15-feet, 5-inches.

Stonehill's men's track and field season comes to a close with today's Championships. The Skyhawks won its home invitational last month for the eighth straight year to go with a third place finish at the Northeast-10 Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships and a fourth place showing at the NE-10 Indoor Championships, while finishing 14th at the New England Indoor and Outdoor Championships.

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