Veit, O'Connell, Booth, Ferrarini earn All-New England honors in event

BOSTON, Mass. (February 26, 2011) – Stonehill College, ranked fourth in this week's U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II East Regional index, opened day one of the New England Indoor Track & Field Championship on Friday with an All-New England performance from the women's distance medley relay squad.

Sophomore Kristen Veit (Easthampton, Mass./Holyoke Catholic), juniors Susan O'Connell (East Greenwich, R.I./East Greenwich) and Maura Ferrarini (Springfield, Mass./Cathedral), and senior Lindsey Booth (Franklin, Mass./Franklin) turned in a program-record time of 12:17.17 to place seventh overall in the event and earn All-New England honors.

Veit opened with a 3:45 split in the 1200-meter leg, followed by O'Connell with a time of 58.6 seconds in the 400-meter second leg, and Booth with a 2:24 split in the 800-meter third leg. Ferrarini posted a personal-best 5:10 mile in the anchor leg to bring in the Skyhawks exactly a second ahead of eighth-place finisher Central Connecticut State University. The event was won by Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 11:49.80.

The Skyhawks took nearly two seconds off the previous Stonehill mark of 12:18.54, set at the 2009 Boston University Valentine Invitational by O'Connell, Lindsey Pinkham, Christen Carrier, and Kristina Coriaty.

Elsewhere on the track on Friday, sophomore Katie Bernazzani (Norwood, Mass./Norwood) qualified for Saturday's 60m hurdles final with a time of 9.35 seconds in her preliminary heat. She will compete today as the championship meet concludes with event finals beginning at the Boston University Track & Tennis Center at 10:00 a.m.