Skyhawks post first All-America finish since 2015
Demeule |
Hubbell |
Taxter |
Vercollone |
PITTSBURG, Kan. (March 9, 2018) – Stonehill College's men's 4000-meter distance medley relay team posted a fifth-place finish and broke the school record to highlight day one of the 2018 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships at the Robert E. Plaster Center, hosted by Pittsburg State University.
Stonehill finished in 9:49.12 to earn All-America honors for the first time since 2015, and eighth time over program history. This year's NCAA time was the best mark since 2015 when the team posted a third place finish at the NCAA Championships in Birmingham, Alabama. Senior Joshua Hubbell (Holliston, Massachusetts/Holliston), and juniors Alexander Demeule (Merrimac, Massachusetts/Pentucket Regional), Stephen Vercollone (Pembroke, Massachusetts/Pembroke), and Lucas Taxter (Readville, Massachusetts/Xaverian Brothers) all earn their first career All-America honors. All four also competed in their first NCAA Division II Track and Field Championship, while Taxter and Demeule have previously competed in the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships.
Western Oregon University won the relay by .44-seconds over Colorado State University-Pueblo with a winning time of 9:41.40. Grand Valley State University was edged by CSU with a time of 9:41.84, while Grand Valley State clocked in at 9:41.92. Adams State University, with a time of 9:44.37 and Stonehill rounded out the top five, as American International College fell behind the Skyhawks with a time of 9:51.19, good for sixth.
Demeule ran the opening 1200-meter leg in an unofficial time of 3:04.6, before handing off the baton to Hubbell who clocked in an unofficial time of 49.7. Vercollone took on the 800-meter third leg and crossed the finish in a personal best unofficial time of 1:50.5, as Taxter dropped off two five seconds off his personal best mile anchor leg with a time of 4:03.8.
The squad that earned All-NE10 honors for the first time since 2013, with their runner-up finish, and All-New England accolades broke the school record that was set in 2012 at the New England Championships. Justin Blaszcyk, Patrick Cooney, Sean Hanlon, and Daniel Zawalich clocked in at 9:50.33 on February 28, 2012 at the New England Championships held at the BU Track & Tennis Center.
Stonehill will open its outdoor season on Saturday, March 31 at the UMass Lowell Spring Invite, hosted by the University of Massachusetts Lowell.
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