Senior Xavier Dixon won the 110-meter hurdles and improves his NCAA provisional qualifying time. |
Dixon wins 110-meter hurdles, improves NCAA provisional qualifying time
AMHERST, Mass. (April 13, 2014) – Stonehill College, ranked second in this week's U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II East Regional rankings index, turned in a sixth place finish at the Minuteman Invitational, hosted by the University of Massachusetts, at the UMass Track & Athletic Complex on Saturday.
Stonehill compiled 51 points for its sixth place team finish. The University of Rhode Island won the team title with 163 points, followed by Northeastern University in second with 146. The Skyhawks fell just six points shy of fifth place American International College's 57.
Senior Xavier Dixon (New Bedford, Mass./New Bedford) won the 110-meter high hurdles and improved his provisional qualification standard for the NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships next month in Allendale, Mich., with his time of 14.44-seconds – good for 16th-fastest in the country to date. He also turned in a 24th place finish in the 200-meter dash in 23.16-seconds.
Junior All-American Patrick Cooney (Douglaston, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) finished second out of 45 entries in the 800-meter run with his time of 1:52.62 – just 0.29 off the winning pace and 0.12 off the provisional qualifying standard for the NCAA Division II Championships. Junior All-American Daniel Zawalich (Paxton, Mass./Saint John's of Shrewsbury) finished sixth in 1:55.22
Junior All-American Patrick Cooney placed second in the 800-meter run. (PHOTO BY Bob Blanchard) |
Cooney also ran a leg for Stonehill's 4x400-meter relay team that finished fourth out of 15 teams with a time of 3:20.49. Junior Robert Smith (Woburn, Mass./Woburn Memorial) ran a 51.1-second split on the lead leg before handing off to senior Tyler Moules (Billerica, Mass./Billerica) who ran the second leg in 51.8-seconds before Cooney ran the third leg in 49.7-seconds and freshman All-American Matt Baldasare (Mansfield, Mass./Mansfield) completed the anchor leg in 48.7-seconds.
Baldasare also placed ninth out of 27 competitors in the 400-meter dash with his time of 50.27-seconds. Junior Teague Grubel (Phoenix, Ariz./Shadow Mountain) placed 11th in 50.75.
Grubel and Smith took 11th and 12th, respectively, in the 200-meter dash. Grubel finished in 22.57-seconds for 11th place out of 43 entries, while Smith placed 12th in 22.60.
Smith also placed 13th out of 30 entries in the timed finals for the 100-meter dash with his time of 11.42-seconds. Senior Michael Harris (Danvers, Mass./Danvers) took 20th in 11.53-seconds.
Moules placed tenth out of 20 in the 400-meter hurdles in 57.11-seconds.
Sophomore Mason Griffin (Wellesley, Mass./Wellesley) placed fourth in the shot put with a distance of 46-feet, 2-inches, while junior Daniel Cormier (Methuen, Mass./Methuen) took fifth with a throw of 45-03.50. Freshman Carmen Cilfone (Falmouth, Mass./Falmouth) placed ninth at 42-05.25.
Junior Robert Smith enjoyed a strong day at the track for the Skyhawks. |
Cormier was also fifth out of 16 competitors in the hammer throw with a distance of 151-feet, 11-inches.
Stonehill's 4x100-meter relay placed sixth in 42.72-seconds.
Other Stonehill highlights include:
Senior Scott Waller (Andover, Mass./Andover) finished fourth in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 33:14.20.
Sophomore Robert Massey (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford) placed sixth out of 36 runners in the 1500-meter run with a time of 3:58.31. Junior Michael Gendron (Lowell, Mass./Lowell) finished 16th in 4:10.15.
Sophomore Andrew Hastings (Broad Brook, Conn./Hebron Academy) placed eighth in the discus throw with a distance of 129-feet, 6-inches, while classmate Morgan Johnson (West Newbury, Mass./St. John's Prep) was tenth with a throw of 122-feet, even.
Freshman Daniel Nolan (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford) finished ninth out of 24 in the 5000-meter run with his time of 15:48.81.
Stonehill is back in action next Saturday at the Holy Cross Crusades, hosted by College of the Holy Cross, starting at 11 a.m. Stonehill, which will host its annual home Skyhawk Invitational on Friday, April 25, is also the host of the 2013 Northeast-10 Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships at W.B. Mason Stadium on Friday and Saturday, May 2-3.
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