Stonehill's captains receive their NE-10 Championships runner up trophy. (PHOTO BY SportsPix) |
Skyhawks post seven All-Conference performances over the two day event
EASTON, Mass. (May 3, 2014) – Host Stonehill College, ranked second in this week's U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Men's Division II East Regional computer rankings, turned in its third runner-up finish over the last four years at the 2014 Northeast-10 Conference Men's Outdoor Track & Field Championships at W.B. Mason Stadium today.
Stonehill, which sat in a third place tie with Franklin Pierce University on 48 points at the conclusion of day one of the Championship, finished with 146 points for its second place finish in the team standings. Southern Connecticut State University posted its 12th-straight NE-10 Outdoor Championship with 213.50 points, while American International College trailed Stonehill by just five points in third place (141 points) and Franklin Pierce fell to fourth (91.50).
Senior Xavier Dixon (New Bedford, Massachusetts/New Bedford) won the 110-meter high hurdles title for the first time in 14.36-seconds after qualifying first overall yesterday in a meet-record 14.26-seconds to improve his NCAA provisional qualifying standard. His was the second of two individual championships for Stonehill over the two day event and is among seven All-Northeast-10 performances for the weekend.
Senior Xavier Dixon won the 110-meter hurdles on Saturday. (PHOTO BY SportsPix) |
Junior All-Americans Patrick Cooney (Douglaston, New York/Archbishop Molloy) and Dan Zawalich (Paxton, Massachusetts/St. John's of Shrewsbury) finished second and third, respectively, in the 800-mter run. Cooney was second with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 1:51.59, while Zawalich took third in 1:52.59. Zawalich won the 1500-meter run with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 3:52.49 on Friday.
Freshman All-American Matt Baldasare (Mansfield, Massachusetts/Mansfield) earned All-Northeast-10 Conference honors with his second place finish in the 400-meter dash in 48.67-seconds – just 0.04 shy of the program record. Junior Robert Smith (Woburn, Massachusetts/Woburn Memorial) was fifth at 49.91-seconds.
Baldasare, Cooney and Smith all earned All-Northeast-10 honors as part of the 4x400-meter relay that finished second in 3:18.08. Senior Tyler Moules (Billerica, Massachusetts/Billerica) ran the lead leg for the Skyhawks with Cooney taking the baton second ahead of Smith and then Baldasare running the anchor leg.
Baldasare and Dixon were also part of Stonehill's 4x100-meter relay that turned in a third place finish today in 42.85-seconds. Senior Michael Harris (Danvers, Mass./Danvers) ran the lead leg before handing off to junior Teague Grubel (Phoenix, Arizona/Shadow Mountain) for the second leg with Dixon taking the baton third before Baldasare completed the anchor leg.
Freshman All-America Matt Baldasare earned a pair of All-Northeast-10 honors for the 400 and 4x400. |
Moules also turned in a fifth place finish in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 56.25-seconds. Grubel finished fourth in today's 200-meter dash final with a time of 22.31-seconds. He qualified sixth for today's final with a time of 22.48-seconds to rank sixth among the 22 entries after Friday's preliminary race.
Senior Alex Willgoos (Newington, Connecticut/Newington) earned All-Conference honors for the decathlon with his second place finish with a program-record 5,681 points, surpassing his previous record set at last year's NE-10 Championships by seven points. After winning the shot put (33-09.25) and earning second place finishes for the 100-meter dash (11.45) and 400-meter dash (53.83) on Friday, he added three more second place finishes on Saturday.
Willgoos started the day with a second place showing in the 110-meter hurdles in 17.09-seconds. He also finished second for the pole vault by clearing 12-feet, 1.50-inches and then second in the discus throw with a distance of 90-feet, 4-inches. Willgoos capped the day with a third place distance in the javelin throw (129-03) and third place finish in the 1500-meter run (5:12.61).
Junior All-American Nick Staley (Medway, Massachusetts/BC High) earned All-NE-10 honors for the high jump for the third straight year with his second place finish. He cleared 6-feet, 6.75-inches along with event winner Matthew Jeune, but needed more attempts.
Junior Daniel Cormier (Methuen, Massachusetts/Methuen) placed fifth in the shot put with a school-record distance of 50-feet, 4-inches. He broke his own school record set last weekend in the Skyhawk Invitational after the previous record held for 15 years. Sophomore Mason Griffin (Wellesley, Massachusetts/Wellesley) finished seventh with a throw of 48-00.50.
Senior Nate Webber (Atkinson, New Hampshire/Central Catholic) finished third in the 3000-meter steeplechase in 9:40.49, while junior Seamus McEvoy (Longmeadow, Massachusetts/Longmeadow) placed fifth with a time of 9:42.04.
Senior Trent Fontanella (Pelham. New Hampshire/Bishop Guertin) led four Stonehill runners in the top ten (out of 21 entries) for the 5000-meter run by posting a fifth place finish in 15:06.96. Senior Paul Cina (Pembroke, Massachusetts/Pembroke) finished eighth in 15:20.78, while freshman Tyler Henseler (Coventry, Rhode Island/Bishop Hendricken) is ninth at 15:27.29 and freshman Daniel Nolan (Chelmsford, Massachusetts/Chelmsford) rounded out the top ten in 15:30.04.
Sophomores Andrew Hastings (Broad Brook, Connecticut/Hebron Academy) and Morgan Johnson (West Newbury, Massachusetts/St. John's Prep) placed eighth and ninth, respectively in the discus throw. Hastings posted a distance of 133-feet, 5-inches, while Johnson had a throw of 132-03.
Stonehill is back in action next weekend when its New England Championships qualifiers compete at the championship, hosted by Westfield State University, at Alumni Field in Westfield, Massachusetts, Thursday through Saturday.
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