Junior Xavier Dixon won the 60-meter hurdles and improved his NCAA provisional qualifying time for the event. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr) |
Dixon, Thomas and 4x800 relay post event wins for Skyhawks
KINGSTON, R.I. (January 19, 2013) – The Stonehill College men's track and field program, ranked 21st in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association (USTFCCCA) Division II rankings, opened its second semester schedule with a second place finish at the URI Sorlien Invitational, hosted by the University of Rhode Island, at Mackal Fieldhouse today.
Stonehill compiled 98 points to finish second in the team standings behind host Rhode Island (239 points) and ahead of the University of Massachusetts (75.5). Fellow Northeast-10 Conference member American International College finished fourth with 43 points.
Junior Xavier Dixon (New Bedford, Mass./New Bedford) won the 60-meter hurdles and improved his NCAA provisional qualifying standard with his time of 8.22-seconds – good for 19th nationally in Division II. He qualified fourth in 8.47-seconds.
Senior All-American Corey Thomas (Brookline, Mass./BC High) and sophomore Nick Staley (Medway, Mass./BC High) took first and second, respectively in the high jump. Thomas cleared 6-feet, 8.75-inches in his first place finish, while Staley reached 6-6.75.
Junior Trent Fontanella (Pelham, N.H./Bishop Guertin) finished second in the 3000-meter run with his time of 8:40.56. Sophomore Michael Gendron (Lowell, Mass./Lowell) placed eighth in 9:04.22.
Stonehill placed three runners in the top five and five in the top ten in the one mile run. Seniors Tim Johnson (Thomaston, Conn./Thomaston), Sam Spencer (Seekonk, Mass./Seekonk) and All-American Sean Hanlon (Georgetown, Mass./St. John's Prep) took third through fifth place in the event, while junior All-American Justin Blaszczyk (Saint James, N.Y./Smithtown) and freshman Robert Massey (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford) finished eighth and ninth, respectively. Johnson was third in 4:18.03, while Spencer finished fourth in 4:24.37 and Hanlon took fourth in 4:26.01. Blaszczyk finished in 4:28.51 and Massey posted a time of 4:31.78.
Senior All-American Corey Thomas won the high jump and helped lead the 4x400-meter relay team to a third place finish. |
Spencer, Blaszczyk, Johnson and Hanlon also ran Stonehill to a first place finish in the 4x800-meter relay in 8:11.22.
Stonehill's 4x400-meter relay team placed third with a time of 3:28.87. Running for the Skyhawks were Staley, senior Colin Prior (Georgetown, Mass./St. John's Prep), sophomore Robert Smith (Woburn, Mass./Woburn Memorial) and Thomas.
Sophomore Daniel Cormier (Methuen, Mass./Methuen) posted a pair of top five finishes in throwing events for Stonehill, starting with a fourth place effort in the weight throw with a distance of 49-feet, 4.25-inches. He was fifth in the shot put with a throw of 46-feet, 1.50-inches, while freshman Mason Griffin (Wellesley, Mass./Wellesley) finished eighth at 43-00.25, Freshman Andrew Hastings (Broad Brook, Conn./Hebron Academy) was 11th at 40-00.75.
Junior Herby Saintil (Roslindale, Mass./BC High) placed fourth in the triple jump with a distance of 44-feet, 9-inches. Freshman Fortune Kalala (Lawrence, Mass./Central Catholic) finished tenth at 40-05.00, while junior was 11th at 39-05.75.
Georgaklis led five Stonehill representatives in the long jump with a distance of 20-feet, 7.25-inches to place sixth overall. Saintil placed ninth with a leap of 20-01.00, while Smith was tenth at 19-11.74 and freshman Justin Howard-Callender (New Bedford, Mass./New Bedford) was 11th with a distance of 19-10.25.
Other Stonehill Highlights Include:
Sophomore Teague Grubel (Phoenix, Ariz./Shadow Mountain) finished seventh in the 200-meter dash in 22.50-seconds, ranking fifth among collegiate entries. Senior Colin Prior placed tenth in 23.40. Grubel also took ninth in the 60-meter dash, just missing out on qualifying for the final, with a time of 7.25-seconds. Justin Howard-Callender was 11th in 7.28-seconds, while Prior took 15th in 7.38.
Senior Daniel Padilla (Bronx, N.Y./Mount Saint Michael Academy) placed ninth in the 500-meter dash in 1:11.18.
Stonehill is back in action on Friday at the Joe Donahue Games, hosted by Northeastern University, at Reggie Lewis Track & Athletic Center, at 3 p.m. The Skyhawks will also compete at the BU Terrier Classic, hosted by Boston University, at the BU Track and Tennis Center on Saturday at 9 a.m.
For the latest on Stonehill Athletics, follow the Skyhawks via social media on Twitter and Facebook. Fans can also download the Stonehill Skyhawks mobile app on iTunes and the Android Market.
