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Santo captured his first NE10 individual title in the 10,000-meter run after three-straight top five finishes. |
Newburyport, Massachusetts, senior leads four All-NE10 performances on day one
EASTON, Mass. (May 6, 2017) – The Stonehill College men's track and field program wrapped up day one of the 2017 Northeast-10 Conference Outdoor Championships in second place in the team standings as it posted four All-NE10 performances through the first seven events scored at W.B. Mason Stadium today.
Senior Joe Santo (Newburyport, Massachusetts/Newburyport) paced Stonehill's All-NE10 performers on day one by capturing his first NE10 individual title in the 10,000-meter run with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 30:41.83 to break both the program and W.B. Mason Stadium records for the event. Santo, who finished second in the event a year ago to go with a pair of fourth place finishes as a freshman and sophomore, claimed his second-straight All-NE10 performance with the 39th-quickest time in the country this season to date to provisionally qualify for the NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships later this month in Bradenton, Florida. He bettered the program record of 30:50.48 set by Stephen Polito '12 at the 2012 New England Championships as well as Polito's facility mark of 31:28.53 at the 2012 Skyhawk Invitational.
Sophomore John Onken (Holbrook, New York/Sachem North) and junior Kenny Vinacco (Scituate, Rhode Island/Scituate) also earned points for Stonehill in the 10,000-meters with fourth and sixth place finishes, respectively. Onken posted a personal-best time of 31:57.41, while Vinacco clocked in at a personal-best 32:08.33.
Led by Santo's 10,000-meter title, Stonehill sits in second place in the team standings following day one with 49-points. 13-time NE10 Outdoor Champions Southern Connecticut State University leads with 72 points, while American International College is third (33 points) and Franklin Pierce University fourth (30).
Balestra earned All-NE10 honors for the first time with a second place finish in the hammer throw. |
Junior co-captain Stefan Balestra (Lincoln, Rhode Island/Lincoln) earned All-NE10 honors for the first time in his career with his second place showing in the hammer throw, bettering a fourth place finish a year ago, as he cleared a season-best distance of 174-feet – just a foot and a half shy of his own program record.
Junior Anthony Innamorati (Clinton, Massachusetts/Clinton) earned All-NE10 honors in the pole vault for the third straight year with a second place finish after winning event titles as a freshman and sophomore. Innamorati, who snapped a pole during the day's competition, placed second for Stonehill by clearing a height of 14-feet, 1.75-inches.
Stonehill's 4x800-meter relay team rounded out the day and All-NE10 performances for Stonehill on day one with a second place finish in 7:39.68. Senior Duncan Burleigh (Hingham, Massachusetts/Hingham) ran the lead leg for the Skyhawks, followed by sophomore David Lockhart (Stoughton, Massachusetts/Stoughton) and then junior Jason Dimmick (Sutton, Massachusetts/Sutton), before sophomore Stephen Vercollone (Pembroke, Massachusetts/Pembroke) completed the anchor leg. Dimmick took the baton with the Skyhawks in second, after a solid leg by Lockhart that pulled the team from fourth, and then Vercollone was passed by Franklin Pierce All-American Dage Minors on the final 400-meters as the Ravens relay posted a winning time of 7:39.02.
Sophomore Lucas Taxter (Readville, Massachusetts/Xaverian Brothers) led three point scorers for Stonehill in the 1500-meter run with a fourth place finish out of the unseeded section with a personal-best time of 3:53.97. Classmates Christopher Drace (Franklin, New Jersey/Pope John XXIII) and Alexander Demeule (Merrimac, Massachusetts/Pentucket Regional) finished seventh and eighth, respectively. Drace clocked in at a personal-best 3:56.92 and Demeule posted a time of 3:57.15.
Dimmick ran a strong leg for the Skyhawks 4x800-meter relay which placed second to earn All-NE10 honors. |
Junior Mark Hamalian (West Bridgewater, Massachusetts/Bridgewater-Raynham) sits in second place after day one of the decathlon with 3,253 points. He is 137 points behind Southern Connecticut State freshman Michael Griffith (3,390) and 38 points ahead of Southern freshman Philip Quaye (3,215). Hamalian finished first in the high jump, earning 749 points, as he cleared a personal-best height of 6-feet, 4.25-inches. He was also second in the 100-meter dash (761 points) with a time personal-best time of 11.46-seconds, and second (652) in the long jump with a distance of 20-feet, 8-inches.
Other Stonehill Highlights Include:
Junior Joshua Hubbell (Gloucester, Massachusetts/St. John's Prep) made the final of the long jump championship, finishing ninth with a distance of 21-feet, 11.75-inches. He was also 11th in the 200-meter run prelims with a time of 22.61-seconds, missing tomorrow's final by just five, one-hundredths of a second.
Freshman Collin Kuchachik (Orange, Connecticut/Amity Regional) placed 11th in the prelims of the 110-meter high hurdles in a personal-best 15.85-seconds.
Freshman Alexander Buchan (Norton, Massachusetts/Norton) finished 12th in the javelin throw with a personal-best distance of 164-feet, 9-inches.
The NE10 Outdoor Track & Field Championships conclude at W.B. Mason Stadium on Sunday, with the decathlon and field events getting the day started at 10 a.m., and the track events beginning at 11:30 a.m.