Sophomore All-American Corey Thomas looks to claim a pair of NE-10 Championships on Thursday night. PHOTO BY Richard Orr

Thomas headlines Skyhawks as favorite in two events

Schedule

Admission to the event is $5.00 for adults and $3.00 for students and senior citizens, with tickets available on the day of the event at the Reggie Lewis Center ticket window. The Reggie Lewis Center seats 3,500 and contains a state-of-the-art 200-meter Mondo Super X track, an 8-lane 55-meter dash runway, and provisions for high jump, long/triple jump and pole vault. It has also been the site for a number of track & field collegiate events, including the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships, hosted by Stonehill College in 2005 and 2006.

Southern Connecticut State University will be looking to make it nine NE-10 indoor titles in a row after winning the previous eight championships. The Owls scored 143 points to secure last year's title, just edging out American International College, who earned runner-up honors after collecting 139 points. Stonehill looks to improve on a fourth place finish, with 69 points, from a year ago.

Senior Nathan Morse is having a tremendous senior season and will be in the mix for the 500-meter run and 4x400 relay. PHOTO BY Richard Orr)

Leading the charge tomorrow for Stonehill will be sophomore All-American Corey Thomas (Brookline, Mass./BC High), ranked first in the country for the high jump with a leap of 7-feet, 1.75-inches at the BU Valentine's Invitational over the weekend, who will be the favorite in each of his two events. The 2009-10 NE-10 Indoor Athlete of the Year is the Conference's defending champion for the 55-meter high hurdles with an NE-10 Championships record time of 7.51-seconds last year. He will also look to add the high jump title this season after placing second last winter with a height of 7-0.25 to earn All-Conference accolades in both events. He is ranked first in the NE-10 for both events.

Thomas' main competition in the hurdles this year will likely come from within the Stonehill squad as freshman Xavier Harris-Dixon (New Bedford, Mass./New Bedford) boasts the second best time for that event in the Conference at 7.79-seconds set at the University of New Hampshire Tri-Meet in January.

Stonehill's 4000-meter distance medley relay team, which posted the fourth fastest time in the country this season at BU on Friday at a school-record clip of 9:53.45, will not compete with its top unit tomorrow. The only member of the record-setting team that will run the event on Thursday is sophomore Sean Hanlon (Georgetown, Mass./St. John's Prep), who earned All-Conference honors for the event last winter in helping the Skyhawks place second. Hanlon will also be a contender at 800-meters, carrying the fifth-fastest time in the Conference this season at 1:54.39 at BU on Saturday.

Senior Nathan Morse (Whitinsville, Mass./Holy Family), a member of the record-setting DMR team, will be a contender in the 500-meter dash having logged the fifth-fastest time in the NE-10 this season at 1:05.19 set at the Reebok Boston Collegiate Indoor Games in late January. Morse and the 4x400-meter relay team enter the championships with the third-fastest time in the NE-10 this season of 3:21.51 at BU on Saturday as well.

Senior Daniel Newton will look to earn All-Conference honors for the shot put.

Senior Patrick Fullerton (Bradford, Mass./Haverhill) and sophomore Samuel Spencer (Seekonk, Mass./Seekonk) are expected to be in the mix for the 1000-meter run. Spencer boasts the third-fastest time for that event in the NE-10 this winter at 2:28.98 set at BU on Saturday, while Fullerton has clocked the fourth fastest time of 2:29.08 at the Reebok Boston Collegiate Indoor Games.

Senior Daniel Newton (Reading, Mass./Reading Memorial) will look to crack the top two and earn All-Conference honors in the shot put for the first time after placing third in that event each of the last two years. He enters the championships ranked fourth in the NE-10 with a distance of 45-feet, 1.75-inches at the Tufts Stampede earlier this month. Sophomore John Gelcius (Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich) is rated fifth at 44-4.75.

Junior Daniel Kincade (Brookfield, Conn./Brookfield) looks to compete for honors in the weight throw after placing third at the championships in 2009. His school-record throw of 51-feet, 10.5-inches earlier this month at the Tufts Stampede is ranked fourth in the NE-10 this winter.

Junior Stephen Polito (Worcester, Mass./Doherty Memorial) is ranked third in the NE-10 for the 5000-meter run with his time of 15:05.79 at the Reebok Boston Collegiate Indoor Games. He placed fourth in the 3000-meters last winter.

Senior Daniel Fidler (Carlisle, Mass./Concord-Carlisle) is ranked fifth in the Conference for the 3000-meter run with his time of 8:30.41 at BU on Saturday. He was third in the 3000-meters last winter.

Freshman George Georgaklis (Westwood, Mass./Westwood) is ranked fourth in the NE-10 for the triple jump with a distance of 41-feet, 9.25-inches at the Tufts Stampede earlier this month.

Stonehill is also ranked fourth in the NE-10 for the 4x800-meter relay with a time of 9:54.90 at the Reebok Boston Collegiate Games.

After Thursday's NE-10 Championship, Stonehill's qualifiers for the New England Championships will compete at the Boston University Track & Tennis Center on Saturday, February 26.