Stonehill Sending Three to NCAA Outdoor Championships


Bishop

Curit

Dixon

Bishop, Curit and Dixon all earn first NCAA Outdoor Championship appearances 

EASTON, Mass. (May 14, 2014) – Three members of the Stonehill College men's and women's track and field program have qualified for the 2014 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships, hosted by Grand Valley State University and the West Michigan Sports Commission, May 22-24 in Allendale, Michigan.

Seniors Chelsea Bishop (Suffield, Connecticut/Suffield) and Xavier Dixon (New Bedford, Massachusetts/New Bedford) as well as junior Maria Curit (Biddeford, Maine/Biddeford) all secured their first qualification to the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, while Dixon and Curit both also qualified for the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in March.

Bishop, who earned All-America honors at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships in November, qualifies for her first NCAA Track & Field Championships and will compete in the 10,000-meter run on Thursday, May 22, at 8:50 p.m. She also provisionally qualified for both the 5,000-meter run (17:14.23/ranked 37th) and 3000-meter steeplechase (11:14.74/49th), but her season-best time of 35:58.17 to win the Northeast-10 Conference Championship two weeks ago is ranked 20th nationally and has earned her a trip to Michigan to compete for a second All-America honor this season.

Dixon, who placed 11th in the 60-meter high hurdles at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March, has qualified for his first outdoor championship with his season-best time of 14.26-seconds in the 110-meter high hurdles in the preliminary heats for the NE-10 Championships two weeks ago, which he would go on to win for the second time in his career. His qualifying time ranks 13th nationally and the 110-meter hurdles prelims are scheduled for Friday, May 23, at 6:35 p.m. (right after Curit runs the 800-meter prelims), with the final scheduled for Saturday, May 24, at 5:55 p.m.

Curit, who placed 14th in the 400-meter dash and was part of Stonehill's 4000-meter distance medley relay that finished ninth at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March, hit the automatic qualifying standard for the 800-meter run with her second place finish at last weekend's New England Outdoor Championships in Westfield, Massachusetts. Her school-record time of 2:08.72 ranks seventh nationally and she is the first female student-athlete from Stonehill to hit an automatic qualifying mark. She will compete in the 800-meter run prelims on Friday, May 23, at 6:15 p.m., with the final scheduled for Saturday, May 24, at 7:05 p.m. Curit also provisionally qualified this season for the 400-meter dash (55.72/ranked 29th) and long jump (18-09.25/49th) – both of which are also among the six outdoor school records she holds or is a part of.

The Stonehill women's track and field team captured both the Northeast-10 Conference indoor and outdoor championships this season, marking the first championships in program history, and is currently ranked first in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II East Regional computer rankings, having qualified seven for the NCAA Championships this season. The Stonehill men placed second at both the NE-10 indoor and outdoor championships this season and are currently ranked second in the region, also sending seven individuals to NCAA Championships this season overall.

For the latest on Stonehill Athletics, follow the Skyhawks via social media on Twitter and Facebook. Fans can also download the Stonehill Skyhawks mobile app on iTunes and the Android Market.