Senior All-American Corey Thomas is seeded first for both the 110-meter hurdles and high jump at this weekend's NE-10 Championships. |
Skyhawks look to complete 2013 championship sweep after being picked third by Conference coaches
NE-10 Outdoor Championship Information Page
EASTON, Mass. (May 3, 2013) – The Stonehill College men's track and field program aims to complete an indoor and outdoor championship sweep at the 2013 Northeast-10 Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships, hosted by American International College, at The John G. Hoyt, '52 Track & Field Complex on Friday and Saturday.
Stonehill, which captured its first NE-10 Indoor Championship in February, has been picked third for the Outdoor Championships in the pre-championship coaches' poll released this week. The Skyhawks received one first place vote and compiled 83 points, while two-time defending champions Southern Connecticut State University has been picked first with eight first place votes and 97 points. The University of Massachusetts Lowell (89 points) has been selected second with one first place vote, while host American International is picked fourth (74) and received the remaining first place vote.
The 2013 NE-10 Outdoor Championships get underway on Friday with the men's decathlon and women's heptathlon events starting at 10:30 a.m., and 11 a.m., respectively. Friday's field championship events start at 12:30 p.m., with the women's discus throw and long jump as well as the men's pole vault and javelin throw, while the track events start at 1:30 p.m., with the men's and women's 200-meter dash prelims. Men's and women's track championships to be held on Friday include the 1,500-meter run, 10,000-meter run and 4x800-meter relays.
The Championships continue on Saturday with day two decathlon events at 10 a.m. Field Championships get back underway at 10:30 a.m., starting with the women's shot put and triple jump as well as the men's high jump and hammer throw. Track events are scheduled to start at 12:30 p.m., beginning with the 4x100-meter relays.
Senior Ethan Penney looks to win his first 3000-meter steeplechase title on Saturday. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr) |
Athletes to watch for Stonehill include:
Senior All-American Corey Thomas (Brookline, Mass./BC High) is the two-time defending outdoor high jump champion and three-time All-Northeast-10 performer for the event and is seeded first this weekend with a height of 7-feet, 3-inches cleared during the indoor season. Thomas is also seeded first for the 110-meter high hurdles with his season-best time of 14.42-seconds accomplished at the Holy Cross Invitational this spring. Thomas, who has provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships for both events, is a two-time champion and All-Conference performer for that event as well, winning as a freshman and sophomore. He is also among the potential entries for Stonehill in the 4x400-meter relay.
Senior John Gelcius (Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich) is the defending NE-10 Champion and a three-time All-Northeast-10 performer for the javelin throw. He is seeded fifth this weekend with his distance of 177-feet, 4-inches set in his first place debut at the Skyhawk Invitational last weekend. He is coming off an injury after qualifying for the NCAA Division II Championships last spring where he finished ninth with a school-record performance (207-08).
Junior Xavier Dixon (New Bedford, Mass./New Bedford) is the defending NE-10 Outdoor Champion for the 110-meter hurdles and is expected to challenge Thomas for the title again this year. The two-time All-Conference performer in the event is seeded second behind Thomas this weekend with a time of 14.72-seconds set at the Duke Invitational last month.
Senior Ethan Penney (Haverhill, Mass./Haverhill) looks to improve on back to back second place finishes in the men's 3000-meter steeplechase to collect a pair of All-Northeast-10 honors for the event the last two years. He is seeded fourth this weekend with a time of 9:45.33 set at the Duke Invitational.
Senior John Gelcius has set aim on a fourth-straight All-Conference performance in the javelin as the defending event champion. (PHOTO BY Blake Wood) |
Sophomore All-American Nick Staley (Medway, Mass./BC High) is seeded second behind Thomas for the high jump after earning All-Northeast-10 honors at the 2012 NE-10 Outdoor Championships with a second place finish behind Thomas. He has cleared a career-best 7-feet, 0.25-inches in winning his first New England Championship at the Indoor Championships in February and has provisionally qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships for the second-straight year. Staley is also listed among the potential entries for Stonehill's 4x400-meter relay team that is seeded fifth with a time of 3:22.34. Stonehill won that event in 2011.
Also on the men's side:
Stonehill's 4x800-meter relay team is the top seed this weekend (7:42.58) after finishing third at the 2012 NE-10 Outdoor Championships. The Skyhawks won the event in 2011 and placed fourth in 2010. Sophomore All-American Patrick Cooney (Douglaston, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy), junior Christopher Dooley (Weymouth, Mass./Weymouth), freshman Nick Kirkpatrick (Carmel, Ind./Brebeuf Jesuit Prep), senior Sam Spencer (Seekonk, Mass./Seekonk) and senior All-American Sean Hanlon (Georgetown, Mass./St. John's Prep) are all potential entries for the event for Stonehill this weekend.
Senior Luke Byrnes (Glen Head, N.Y./Chaminade) is seeded second for the pole vault with a school-record and NCAA provisional qualifying height of 15-feet, 5-inches in winning the event at last weekend's Skyhawk Invitational. He placed fifth at the 2012 Outdoor Championships and sixth in 2011, while classmate Kevin McCann (Monroe, Conn./Masuk) is seeded sixth (13-7.25) this weekend after finishing third in 2012, fourth in 2011 and fifth in 2010.
Junior Herby Saintil is peaking at the right time and is seeded third for the triple jump. |
Junior Herby Saintil (Roslindale, Mass./BC High) is seeded third for the triple jump with his school-record and NCAA provisional qualifying distance of 48-feet, 0.75-inches set in his winning performance at last weekend's Skyhawk Invitational, marking the third straight week he broke his own school mark in the event. He has finished third each of his first two years at the NE-10 Outdoor Championships in this event.
Sophomore Daniel Cormier (Methuen, Mass./Methuen) is seeded fourth in the shot put (47-feet, 8-inches) after finishing fourth at last year's outdoor championships. He is also seeded eighth for the hammer throw (141-feet, 10-inches).
Senior Tim Johnson (Thomaston, Conn./Thomaston) leads three high seeds for Stonehill in the 1500-meter run. He is seeded fourth (3:52.70) after finishing eighth for the event at the 2012 NE-10 Outdoor Championships, while sophomore All-American Daniel Zawalich (Paxton, Mass./ St. John's of Shrewsbury) is seeded fifth (3:53.08) and Hanlon is seeded seventh (3:56.67).
Junior Paul Cina (Pembroke, Mass./Pembroke) placed third in the 5000-meter run at the 2012 NE-10 Championships and is seeded sixth this weekend (14:46.80). Classmate Trent Fontanella (Pelham, N.H./Bishop Guertin) has finished sixth in the 5000 each of his first two NE-10 Outdoor Championships and is seeded tenth (14:52.63) this weekend.
Junior Stephen Leonard (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) is seeded second for the 10,000-meter run (31:51.00) after placing fifth for the event in 2012 and 11th his freshman year. Sophomore Bryan Wilcox (Plantsville, Conn./Southington) is seeded fifth (32:32.11) this weekend after finishing fourth in the event last spring.
Stonehill's 4x100-meter relay team is seeded fourth (42.91-seconds) after placing third last spring.
Stonehill will continue its championship season next weekend with it serves as host of the New England Championships at W.B. Mason Stadium on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, May 9-11.
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