Stonehill Competes at Bryant Invitational


While the majority of the Skyhawks competed at the Bryant Invite, junior Stephen Polito led three teammates in the 10,000-meter run at Tufts's home meet, placing first and qualifying for the New England Championships. 

Thomas a double-winner in first outdoor meet, two school record fall
Polito leads three Skyhawks at 10,000-meters at Tufts with first place finish

SMITHFIELD, R.I. (April 2, 2011) – The Stonehill College men's track and field team turned in a strong showing at the Bryant University Invitational today.

Sophomore All-American Corey Thomas (Brookline, Mass./BC High), competing for the first time during the outdoor season after his national championship and two All-America performances last month at the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships, was a double-winner to lead the way for Stonehill. He placed first in the 110-meter high hurdles with a time of 14.66-seconds – just 0.01 shy of provisionally qualifying for the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships, in Stanislaus, Calif., in May. Freshman Xavier Harris-Dixon (New Bedford, Mass./New Bedford) was fourth in the event with his time of 15.44-seconds.

Thomas, the newly crowned indoor high jump national champion, also posted a first place finish in that event as he cleared 6-feet, 8.25-inches – just 0.01 meters shy of the NCAA Championship provisional qualifying mark.

Sophomores Kevin McCann (Monroe, Conn./Masuk) and Luke Byrnes (Glen Head, N.Y./Chaminade) finished third and fourth, respectively, in the pole vault. McCann cleared a school-record 14-feet even, while Byrnes topped 13-feet event. McCann broke the previous school record of 13-feet, six-inches, he shared with Byrnes set at last year's Bryant Invitational.


Sophomore All-American Corey Thomas made his outdoor season debut and won both the 110-meter high hurdles and high jump today at Bryant. 

Junior Daniel Kincade (Brookfield, Conn./Brookfield) placed fifth in the hammer throw with a school-record distance of 162-feet, 11-inches. He broke the previous school record of 160'4" set by Russ Miranda, here at Bryant, at the 2008 Northeast-10 Conference Outdoor Championships. Senior Patrick Fanning (Rockland, Mass./Rockland) was tenth with a throw of 137-03. Kincade was also 15th in the javelin with a distance of 152-05, while Fanning was also 18th in the discus with a throw of 119-feet, 8-inches.

Stonehill also had three runners compete in the 10,000-meter run at the Tufts University Snowflake Classic, which was not run at Bryant, with all three runners placing in the top four. Junior Stephen Polito (Worcester, Mass./Doherty Memorial), the two-time defending Northeast-10 champion for this event, finished first in 31:45.76, while senior Zachary Lankow (Saugus, Mass./St. John's Prep) was second in 31:55.40 as both qualified for the New England Championships. Senior Daniel Fidler (Carlisle, Mass./Concord-Carlisle) placed fourth in 33:15.70.

Senior All-American Nathan Morse (Whitinsville, Mass./Holy Name) finished second (out of 35 competitors) in the 400-meter dash with a time of 49.38-seconds. Junior Pak Lul (Portland, Maine/North Yarmouth Academy) was 11th in 51.04. Morse was also tenth in the 200-meter dash in 23.11-seconds, while Lul was 13th in 23.21.


Sophomore Kevin McCann set a new program record for the pole vault at 14-feet even. 

Senior All-American Patrick Fullerton (Bradford, Mass./Haverhill) placed second in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:57.48. Freshman Justin Blaszczyk (Saint James, N.Y./Smithtown) finished fifth in 1:58.76.

Sophomore All-American Sean Hanlon (Georgetown, Mass./St. John's Prep) led seven Skyhawks in the 1500-meter run with a fourth place finish (out of 55 runners overall) in 4:05.53. Stonehill placed three runners in the top ten, as Hanlon was followed by senior All-American Daniel Pilz (Newington, Conn./Newington) in sixth in 4:06.93 and sophomore Samuel Spencer (Seekonk, Mass./Seekonk) in eighth in 4:07.60.

Other Stonehill performances of note:

Junior Corey Donahoe (Billerica, Mass./Billerica Memorial) led four Stonehill runners in the 5000-meter run with a third place finish (out of 21) in 15:42.20. Freshman Stephen Leonard (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) was seventh in 16:02.99, while classmate Paul Cina (Pembroke, Mass./Pembroke) finished eighth in 16:09.12.

 

Sophomore John Gelcius (Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich) placed third in the javelin with a throw of 189-feet, 7-inches. Freshman Taylor Viotto (Washington, N.J./Warren Hills) was 11th with a distance of 158-04.

 

Freshman George Georgaklis (Westwood, Mass./Westwood) finished sixth in the triple jump with a distance of 41-feet, 5-inches. He was also tenth (out of 22 competitors) in the long jump with a leap of 19-feet, 4.75-inches.

 

Sophomore Colin Prior (Georgetown, Mass./St. John's Prep) placed eighth (out of 47 runners) in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.98-seconds.

 

Junior John Driscoll (Revere, Mass./Revere) was 10th (out of 22) in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 57.82-seconds.

 

Stonehill is back in action next Saturday when it participates in the George Davis Invitational, hosted by the University of Massachusetts Lowell, starting at 10:30 a.m.