Vercollone, Taxter to represent Skyhawks at outdoor championships for first time
Ward qualifies for first NCAA Championship

NCAA II Outdoor Track & Field Championships Accepted Entries Announcement

NCAA II Outdoor Track & Field Championships Accepted Entries & Schedule

Ward	Vercollone
	Taxter

EASTON, Mass. (May 15, 2019) – Three members of the Stonehill men's and women's track & field program have had their entries accepted to the 2019 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships, to be hosted by Texas A&M University-Kingsville, May 23-25, at Javelina Stadium in Kingsville, Texas.

Senior All-Americans Lucas Taxter and Stephen Vercollone will represent the men's program at the NCAA Championships, while junior Madison Ward has qualified for her first NCAA Championships on the women's side.

Taxter will be making the fifth NCAA Championships appearance of his career, including cross country (2) and indoor track & field (2), having qualified for his first NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship in the 1500-meter run. He is seeded 18^th heading into the Championships as he looks to earn the fourth All-America award of his career and finish off a senior year in which he earned the honors for cross country (19^th at NCAA Championships) and indoor track & field (7^th one mile run). He qualified with his personal-best 3:48.99 to win the New England Championship on Saturday in New Haven, Connecticut.

Vercollone is seeded 12^th in the 800-meter run in his first NCAA Outdoor Championship, which marks the third NCAA appearance of his career, including indoor track & field. He wrapped up a spot in the NCAA Championships with his school-record 1:50.28 to finish second at the New England Championships on Saturday. Vercollone looks to earn individual All-America honors for the first time in his career, having been part of a fifth-place 4000-meter distance medley relay at the 2018 NCAA Indoor Championships, and he also competed in the 800-meter run at the 2019 Indoor Championships in March, finishing 17^th in the prelims.

Ward has qualified for her first NCAA Championship as the 14-seed in the high jump after provisionally qualifying during the indoor season. She cleared a school-record 5-feet, 7.75-inches to win her first individual Northeast-10 Conference championship at Southern New Hampshire University two weeks ago. Ward hit the NCAA provisional height with a school-record 5-05.75 at the Branwen Smith-King Invitational, hosted by Tufts University, in January.

Taxter will run the 1500-meter prelims on Thursday, May 23, at 7:10 p.m. (EDT), with Ward competing in the high jump final on Friday, May 24, at 6:05 p.m. (EDT) and Vercollone's 800-meter prelims at 7:20 p.m. (EDT). The 1500-meter final is scheduled for Saturday, May 25, at 6:45 p.m. (EDT), with the 800-meter final at 8:05 p.m. (EDT).

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