Stonehill Takes Second at NE-10 Championships

Senior All-American Patrick Fullerton led the double-winners for Stonehill with a championship record run in the 1500, while also anchoring the championship 4x800 relay team.

Skyhawks win six individual championships, winning two relay titles, while eight earn All-Northeast-10 honors

LOWELL, Mass. (May 7, 2011) – The Stonehill College men's track and field team, ranked third in this week's U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II East Regional rankings index, posted a big second place finish at the 2011 Northeast-10 Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships, hosted by the University of Massachusetts Lowell, at Cushing Field Complex.

Stonehill finished with 154 points over the two day event, while Southern Connecticut State University won the Outdoor Championships for the ninth-straight year with 221 points. American International College (102 point) and the University of Massachusetts Lowell (92) came in third and fourth, respectively.

Stonehill took home a pair of NE-10 relay championships by winning both the 4x400 and 4x800 relays. The 4x400 won by over two seconds with its time of 3:21.08, with senior All-American Nathan Morse (Whitinsville, N.Y./Holy Name), juniors Pak Lul (Portland, Maine/North Yarmouth Academy) and John Driscoll (Revere, Mass./Revere) and sophomore Michael Miela (Foothill Ranch, Calif./Trabuco Hills) running legs for the Skyhawks.

Morse also won the 800-meter title by topping the field of 27 runners, including nine from Stonehill, with his time of 1:53.13. Miela and Driscoll finished eighth and ninth, respectively in the 400-meter hurdles. Miela finished in 57.12-seconds, while Driscoll posted a time of 57.38. Lul placed ninth (out of 30 runners) in the 400-meter dash with his time of 49.45-seconds.

The 4x800 posted an over seven second winning spread by posting a time of 8:00.17. Running for the Skyhawks were senior All-Americans Patrick Fullerton (Bradford, Mass./Haverhill) and Daniel Pilz (Newington, Conn./Newington), sophomore All-American Sean Hanlon (Georgetown, Mass./St. John's Prep) and classmate Samuel Spencer (Seekonk, Mass./Seekonk).

Senior All-American Nathan Morse won the 800-meter while also running the anchor leg for Stonehill's championship 4x400 relay.

Fullerton also won the 1500-meter championship, after finishing as runner up in 2010, with a Championships record time of 3:49.50 to lead the field of 29 runners, including six from Stonehill. Pilz was sixth in the event at 3:59.57. Hanlon finished sixth in the 800-meters in 1:56.59.

Sophomore All-American Corey Thomas (Brookline, Mass./BC High) successfully defended his title in the 110-meter high hurdles with a time of 14.95-seconds in today's final after qualifying first in a facility record 14.75-seconds in yesterday's preliminaries. Freshman Xavier Harris-Dixon (New Bedford, Mass./New Bedford) also earned All-Northeast-10 honors with his second place finish today in 15.32-seconds.

Thomas, the NCAA Division II indoor high jump national champion, won his first NE-10 outdoor championship for the event as he cleared 6-feet, 6.75-inches on his first attempt.

Sophomore Ethan Penney (Haverhill, Mass./Haverhill) earned All-Northeast-10 honors in the 3000-meter steeplechase with his time of 9:44.66, with freshman Nathaniel Webber (Atkinson, N.H./Central Catholic) right behind him in third at 10:07.52.

Junior Daniel Kincade (Brookfield, Conn./Brookfield) finished third in the hammer throw with a school-record distance of 167-feet, 5-inches. He broke his own previous record of 164-03 set last weekend at the Skyhawk Invitational.

Sophomore All-American Corey Thomas defended his 110-meter hurdle title and also won his first NE-10 outdoor high jump title.

On Friday night, senior Zachary Lankow (Saugus, Mass./St. John's Prep) and sophomore Jonathan Gelcius (Greenwich, Mass./Greenwich) earned All-Northeast-10 honors with second place finishes in the 10,000-meter run and javelin, respectively. Lankow posted a time of 32:21.51, while Gelcius registered a distance of 183-feet, four-inches.

Other Stonehill performances of note:

Junior Stephen Polito (Worcester, Mass./Doherty Memorial) finished third (out of 21 runners) in the 5000-meter run with a time of 15:21.31. Senior Daniel Fidler (Carlisle, Mass./Concord-Carlisle) was fourth in 15:24.33, while freshman Trent Fontanella (Pelham, N.H./Bishop Guertin) was sixth in 15:37.02.

Sophomores Kevin McCann (Monroe, Conn./Masuk) and Luke Byrnes (Glen Head, N.Y./Chaminade) finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the pole vault. McCann cleared 13-feet, 11.25-seconds, while Byrnes reached 12-11.50.

Senior Patrick Fanning (Rockland, Mass./Rockland) placed sixth in the shot put with a distance of 44-feet, 3.50-inches. Classmate Daniel Newton (Reading, Mass./Reading Memorial) took eighth with a throw of 43-07.25. Fanning was also sixth in the hammer throw with a distance of 141-02.

Freshman George Georgaklis (Westwood, Mass./Westwood) placed sixth in the triple jump with a distance of 40-feet, 7-inches.

Sophomore Colin Prior (Georgetown, Mass./St. John's Prep) was ninth (out of 19 sprinters) in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.33-seconds.

Stonehill is back in action on Friday and Saturday, May 13-14, for the New England Intercollegiate Championships, hosted by Southern Connecticut State, in New Haven, Conn.