Men's Track & Field Competes at BU and URI on Saturday


Vercollone improved his NCAA provisional qualifying time in the 800-meter run today at BU (PHOTO BY Lewis Glass/SportsPix)

Vercollone improves NCAA provisional time for 800m at BU
Connolly wins 60-meter dash, adds fourth in 200m at URI

EASTON, Mass. (February 9, 2019) – The Stonehill College men's track & field program competed in two events on Saturday, sending six student-athletes to the David Hemery Valentine Invitational, hosted by Boston University, while the majority of the team competed at the University of Rhode Island's Coaches' Tribute Meet at Mackal Fieldhouse in Kingston, Rhode Island.

Senior All-American Stephen Vercollone led four Stonehill entries out of 273 overall in the 800-meter run at Boston University with a 33rd place finish in 1:52.81. He improves his NCAA Division II Championships qualifying time by 0.14-seconds, ranking 27th overall in Division II this winter and second in the Northeast-10 Conference. Sophomore Christopher Lanahan placed 80th in 1:55.29, while freshman Nickolas McNamee was 84th in 1:55.40, and senior Matthew Shaw placed 103rd in 1:56.16.

Junior Joe Connolly led the contingent at Rhode Island, winning the 60-meter dash and matching his personal-best time of 7.02-seconds after qualifying second at 7.09-seconds. He also finished fourth out of 36 entries in the 200-meter dash in 22.91-seconds. Sophomore Desmond Bernal placed 13th in the 200-meter dash in 23.43-seconds and 13th out of 27 entries in the 60-meter dash in 7.31-seconds.


Connolly won the 60-meter dash at Rhode Island and added a top-five in the 200m (PHOTO BY Mark Connolly)

Senior Xavier Young placed second out of 26 throwers in the shot put at URI with a school-record distance of 50-feet, 1.75-inches. He broke his own previous school mark of 49-11.75 set at the 2018 NE10 Championships. Classmate Darren Shi placed 15th with a distance of 43-feet, 10-inches. Shi was also 13th in the weight throw at 41-feet, 6-inches.

Back at BU, sophomore Hampton Boyd placed 37th out of 195 entries in the 400-meter dash in 49.30-seconds, while junior Justin Ireland wrapped up the BU competitors, placing 58th out of 205 entries in the 200-meter dash in 22.38-seconds.

Again at Rhode Island, junior Jeremy Breen placed fourth out of 21 entries in the 800-meter run, which included four Stonehill runners in the top ten, posting a time of 1:58.08. Freshman Evan Kennedy finished seventh in 1:59.63, while sophomore Jack Herndon was eighth in 1:59.91 and senior Chris Drace placed tenth in 2:00.91.

Breen, Kennedy and Herndon were all part of Stonehill's 4x400-meter relay in 3:33.03 as Kennedy ran the lead leg, followed by Breen and then Sean Conlan, before Herndon delivered the win with his anchor leg.

Senior All-American Alex Demeule finished sixth out of 33 entries, including three others from Stonehill, in the one mile run with a time of 4:23.35. 


Young broke his own school record in the shot put today (PHOTO BY Mark Connolly)

Other Stonehill Results from Rhode Island Include: 

Sophomore Ethan Famiano and junior Collin Kuchachik both reached the 60-meter hurdles finals and finished fifth and seventh, respectively. Famiano clocked in at 8.59-seconds in the final after posting the eighth-fastest time in the prelims at 8.85-seconds. Kuchachik, who posted the seventh-fastest preliminary time at 8.80-seconds and then finished in 8.67-seconds in the final. 

Freshman Anthony Magazzu finished sixth out of 23 entries in the 400-meter dash in 51.86-seconds. 

Freshman Shane Braz took 14th out of 37 entries in the 3000-meter run in 9:01.68. 

Stonehill returns to action next weekend, when it competes at the Northeast-10 Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships, hosted by American International College, at Smith College's indoor facility in Northampton, Massachusetts, Saturday and Sunday, February 16-17.

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