Taxter	Vercollone
Connolly	Young
McNamee

All four members of Skyhawks 4000-meter DMR to qualify for nationals double-up with All-Region honors

USTFCCCA Division II Indoor All-Region Honorees Announced

EASTON, Mass. (March 7, 2019) – Five members of the Stonehill College men's track & field program, ranked fourth in the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) East Region rankings, have earned a combined nine indoor All-East Region honors from the USTFCCCA, the organization announced. The awards recognize each region's top five performers in individual events and top three teams in relay events.

Stonehill's 4000-meter distance medley relay team that set a school record and is seeded fourth entering the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships this weekend all earned All-Region honors as members of the relay, as well as for individual events. Senior All-Americans Lucas Taxter and Stephen Vercollone, classmate Joe Connolly and freshman Nickolas McNamee all collect All-Region honors for their school-record DMR at the BU Last Chance Qualifier in 9:47.24 and each earned All-Region accolades individually as well.

Taxter collects his eighth and ninth All-Region honors of his career, including indoor & outdoor track & field as well as cross country, by also earning the honors for the one mile run with his Northeast-10 Conference Championship winning and personal-best time of 4:06.49, while also running the mile anchor leg for the DMR. Taxter will run both events at the NCAA II Indoor Championships this weekend, seeded second for the mile.

Vercollone earns his fifth and sixth career All-Region awards, posting a season-best 1:52.81 in the 800-meter run at the BU David Hemery Invitational last month, while also running the 800-meter leg for the DMR. He will join Taxter in competing a double at the NCAA Championships this weekend, having qualified for the NCAA Championships as an individual for the first time.

Connolly earns his first career individual All-Region honor with his personal-best 60-meter dash time of 6.91-seconds in winning the NE10 Championship last month for that event. He was a late edition to the DMR, running the 400-meter leg on the record performance at BU two weeks ago and has now earned three All-Region honors over his career.

McNamee also earns the second and third All-Region awards of his career, to go with cross country in the fall, having posted a personal-best 4:16.38 in the one mile run to earn All-New England honors at the New England Indoor Championships last month. He joined Connolly as a late addition to the DMR and ran the opening 1200-meter leg for the school-record effort last week.

Senior Xavier Young rounds out Stonehill's All-Region performers with his school-record distance of 50-feet, 1.75-inches in the shot put at the University of Rhode Island's Coaches' Tribute Meet in January. It marks the second-straight indoor All-Region award for Young in the shot put and his third overall. 

Stonehill's Men's Indoor Track & Field All-Region performers:

Joe Connolly, Senior (Wilmington, Massachusetts/Austin Prep)
60-meter dash (6.91-seconds/NE10 Championships)
4000-meter Distance Medley Relay (9:47.24/BU Last Chance Qualifier) – NCAA qualifier/School Record 

Nickolas McNamee, Freshman (Plymouth, Massachusetts/Plymouth North)
One Mile Run (4:16.38/New England Indoor Championships)
4000-meter Distance Medley Relay (9:47.24/BU Last Chance Qualifier) – NCAA qualifier/School Record 

Lucas Taxter, Senior (Readville, Massachusetts/Xaverian Brothers)
One Mile Run (4:06.49/NE10 Indoor Championships) – NCAA Qualifier
4000-meter Distance Medley Relay (9:47.24/BU Last Chance Qualifier) – NCAA qualifier/School Record 

Stephen Vercollone, Senior (Pembroke, Massachusetts/Pembroke)
800-meter run (1:52.81/David Hemery Valentine Invitational) – NCAA Qualifier
4000-meter Distance Medley Relay (9:47.24/BU Last Chance Qualifier) – NCAA qualifier/School Record 

Xavier Young, Senior (Barnegat, New Jersey/Barnegat)
Shot Put (50-feet, 1.75-inches/URI Coaches' Tribute Meet) – school-record 

Taxter, Vercollone and the Distance Medley Relay will be competing at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships on Friday and Saturday. Taxter and Vercollone will run their preliminary heats for the mile and 800-meters, respectively, on Friday, before the DMR final that night, with individual finals scheduled for Saturday.

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