Junior John Gelcius won his first NE-10 championship in the javelin to earn All-Conference honors for the third-straight year.

Thomas and Gelcius capture NE-10 Championships, Staley and Kincade also turn in All-Conference performances to highlight day one

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (May 4, 2012) – 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 ratings index, stands in first place following day one of the 2012 Northeast-10 Conference Men's Track and Field Championships, hosted by Southern Connecticut State University, at Jess Dow Field today.

Stonehill captured a pair of NE-10 individual titles and saw four All-Northeast-10 performances overall in posting 57 points on day one. Host Southern Connecticut State, winners of nine-straight NE-10 outdoor championships, looms in second place with 55 points, while Bentley University is third with 23.

Junior All-American Corey Thomas (Brookline, Mass./BC High) and classmate John Gelcius (Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich) both claimed individual NE-10 championships on day one to lead a list of four All-NE-10 performances. Gelcius won the javelin title for the first time with his third-straight All-Conference effort in the event after a pair of second place showings as a freshman and sophomore. He topped a pair of Southern Connecticut State throwers with his distance of 192-feet, 1-inch. Sophomore Taylor Viotto (Washington, N.J./Warren Hills) also earned a point for the Skyhawks with his eighth place finish at 157-03.

Thomas won his second-straight outdoor high jump championship with a season-best leap of 6-feet, 11.75-inches to lead a Stonehill sweep of the top two spots in the event and earn All-Northeast-10 honors for the third-straight year in the event. He edged freshman teammate Nicholas Staley (Medway, Mass./BC High) with fewer jumps as he also cleared 6-11.75, but used more attempts over the progressions, to earn All-Conference honors for the first time. Both improved on their NCAA Provisional Qualifying standard and are now tied for tenth nationally in Division II.

Junior All-American Corey Thomas also earned All-Conference honors for the high jump for the third-straight year by winning his second straight high jump title.

Senior Daniel Kincade (Brookfield, Conn./Brookfield) earned All-Northeast-10 honors for the first time with a second place finish in the hammer throw has he reached a distance of 167-feet, 6-inches. Kincade just missed an All-Conference spot as a junior with a third place showing. Sophomore Thomas Yates (Baldwin, Maine/Cheverus) placed fourth with a distance of 150-10 to finish in the points for the Skyhawks as well.

Senior Daniel Kincade earned All-Conference honors for the first time with his second place finish in the hammer throw.

Sophomore Xavier Harris-Dixon (New Bedford, Mass./New Bedford) qualified first for tomorrow's final in the 110-meter high hurdles with his time of 15.08-seconds. Thomas, the two-time defending event champion, did not finish due to an injury during his run.

Freshman Teague Grubel (Phoenix, Ariz./Shadow Mountain) qualified fourth for tomorrow's final in the 100-meter dash with his time of 11.22-seconds to win his qualifying heat. Junior Colin Prior (Georgetown, Mass./St. John's Prep) missed out on qualifying for the final with his 11th place finish in 11.50-seconds, while sophomore Michael Harris (Danvers, Mass./Danvers) finished 16th in 11.72.

Prior also placed ninth in the long jump with a distance of 21-feet, 5.50-inches. Sophomore George Georgaklis (Westwood, Mass./Westwood) finished 12th with a leap of 20-8.00, while freshman Robert Smith (Woburn, Mass./Woburn Memorial) was 13th at 20-5.75.

Sophomore Michael Amirault (Walpole, Mass./Xaverian Brothers) led four Stonehill runners in the top ten of the 10,000-meter run with his third place finish in 32:33.37. Freshman Bryan Wilcox (Plantsville, Conn./Southington) finished right behind in fourth at 32:37.03, while sophomore Stephen Leonard (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) was fifth in 32:48.69. Senior Corey Donahoe (Billerica, Mass./Billerica Memorial) rounded out the top ten with his time of 33:28.72.

The NE-10 Championships continue on Saturday starting with the shot put at 11 a.m., with the 4x100-meter relay kicking off the track events at noon.