Freshman Daniel Zawalich was a key member of Stonehill's 4000-meter DMR that provisionally qualified for nationals and also turned in a strong 1000-meter race.

Skyhawks relay team provisionally qualifies for NCAA Championships for second-straight year

Stonehill's 4000-meter distance medley relay team provisionally qualified for the NCAA Division II Championships in Colorado next month for the second straight season with a time of 10:04.38, good for eighth overall (out of 20 teams). Running for the Skyhawks, who won its section race and posted the 15^th-fastest time in Division II this winter to date were junior Samuel Spencer (Seekonk, Mass./Seekonk) on the 1200-meter lead (3:05), with freshman Patrick Cooney (Douglaston, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) on the 400-meter leg (0:50.2), freshman Daniel Zawalich (Paxton, Mass./St. John's) on the 800-meter leg (1:52) and junior All-American Sean Hanlon (Georgetown, Mass./St. John's Prep), the lone returning member of last year's All-America DMR team, running the mile anchor leg (4:15). Zawalich's split was under NCAA provisional qualifying standard for that distance.

Zawalich also turned in a 14^th place finish (out of 75 competitors) in the 1000-meter run with his time of 2:28.93 to win his section and qualify for the New England Championships.

Freshman Nicholas Capezzuto (North Reading, Mass./North Reading) led four Skyhawks in the 800-meter run as he placed 54^th overall (out of 215 entries) with his time of 1:55.61. Spencer finished right behind Capezzuto in 55^th at 1:55.65, while Cooney placed 59^th in 1:55.69 and Hanlon 70^th in 1:56.06.

Senior Daniel Kincade shattered his own school record in the weight throw.

Senior Daniel Kincade (Brookfield, Conn./Brookfield) shattered his own school record in the weight throw with a distance of 55-feet, 2.00-inches to place sixth overall and qualify for the New England Championships later this month. He broke his own previous record of 51-10.5 set at the Tufts Stampede on February 5, 2011. Sophomore Thomas Yates (Baldwin, Maine/Cheverus) finished 21^st out of 38 entries in the event with a distance of 44-3.25.

Junior Luke Byrnes (Glen Head, N.Y./Chaminade) broke the school-record in the pole vault for the second-straight week as he cleared 14-feet, 7.25-inches to place eighth out of 27 entries. He broke his own record of 14-6.25 set last weekend at the Charley Torpey Memorial Invitational at Rhode Island. Classmate Kevin McCann (Monroe, Conn./Masuk) placed 13^th with a height of 13-7.25.

Junior All-American Corey Thomas (Brookline, Mass./BC High), the reigning indoor high jump national champion, placed second after a jump off with Findlay University's Cory Vales, both of whom are currently ranked fifth in Division II (7-0.25), after they both cleared 6-feet, 10.75-inches on Saturday with an equal number of overall attempts and misses. Vales earned the top spot with a jump of 2.10-meters in the jump-off.

Junior Luke Byrnes broke the school's pole vault record for the second-straight week.

Other Stonehill highlights include:

Sophomore Xavier Harris-Dixon (New Bedford, Mass./New Bedford) placed tenth out of 47 entries in the 60-meter high hurdles with his preliminary round time of 8.49-seconds. He placed one spot out of the finals, just 0.09-seconds shy of qualifying.

Freshman Teague Grubel (Phoenix, Ariz./Shadow Mountain) finished 39^th (out of 167) in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.62-seconds.

Senior Stephen Polito (Worcester, Mass./Doherty Memorial) placed 41^st (out of 103) in the 3000-meter run with his time of 8:29.69. Sophomore Trent Fontanella (Pelham, N.H./Bishop Guertin) was also among six Skyhawks in that event and placed 72^nd in 8:45.52, while classmate Scott Waller (Andover, Mass./Andover) was 77^th in 8:47.70 and junior Ethan Penney (Haverhill, Mass./Haverhill) 78^th in 8:48.35.

Sophomore Michael Harris (Danvers, Mass./Danvers) placed 43^rd out of 84 sprinters in the 60-meter dash with his preliminary round time of 7.32-seconds.

Sophomore Justin Blaszczyk (Saint James, N.Y./Smithtown) led three Skyhawks in the mile run with his time of 4:19.10 to place 79^th overall (out of 253 entries). Junior Tim Johnson (Thomaston, N.Y./Thomaston) finished 94^th in 4:21.00, while sophomore Christopher Dooley (Weymouth, Mass./Weymouth) was 101^st in 4:21.48.

Freshman Robert Smith (Woburn, Mass./Woburn Memorial) finished 20^th (out of 38 entries) in the long jump with his distance of 20-feet, 7.25-inches. Smith was also 25^th (out of 35) in the triple jump with a distance of 42-feet, 5.25-inches.

Stonehill opens its championship season next Saturday when it participates in the Northeast-10 Conference Championships at the Reggie Lewis Track & Athletic Center in Boston starting at 4 p.m.