Senior All-American Daniel Zawalich leads the Skyhawks into tomorrow night's NE-10 Championship. |
Skyhawks picked third in pre-championship poll, seek fifth-straight top two finish
NE-10 Indoor Championship Schedule
EASTON, Mass. (February 20, 2015) – The Stonehill College men's track & field program enters Saturday's Northeast-10 Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships looking to keep its streak of four straight top two team finishes intact and challenge for a second indoor championship after being picked third in the NE-10's pre-championship coaches' poll released this week. The 2015 NE-10 Indoor Championships get underway Saturday night at the Reggie Lewis Track & Athletic Center in Boston, Mass., at 4 p.m.
Stonehill, which won the 2013 NE-10 Indoor Track & Field Championship for its first team title, has finished no worse than second in the team results the last four years. The Skyhawks have been picked third in the NE-10's pre-championship coaches' poll by the league's 11 head coaches. The Skyhawks received one first place vote and 87 points, trailing championship favorites Southern Connecticut State University, the defending team champions and winners of 11 titles overall, with 95 points and six first place votes, while American International College is picked second with 91 points and the remaining four first place votes. Franklin Pierce University has been picked fourth (67 points), while Adelphi University (61) rounds out the top five.
Stonehill, ranked third in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II East Regional computer rankings, has finished in the top two each of the last four indoor championships, capped by last year's second place finish. The Skyhawks 4000-meter distance medley relay team is currently ranked fifth nationally in Division II with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 9:52.38 set at the Boston University John Thomas Terrier Invitational on January 30. Stonehill finished fourth in the event at last year's Championship after winning the previous two years and enters this weekend seeded second behind American International.
Stonehill is the defending 4x400-meter relay NE-10 champion and is seeded fifth on Saturday, while the Skyhawks 4x800-meter relay is also seeded fifth where it finished in 2014.
Junior All-American Nick Kirkpatrick is seeded second in the 1000-meter run for the Skyhawks. (PHOTO BY SportsPix) |
Senior All-American Daniel Zawalich (Paxton, Massachusetts/St. John's of Shrewsbury) is the top seed in the 1000-meter run and second in the one mile run where he placed third last winter and fourth as a sophomore in 2013. He is ranked ninth nationally in the mile with an adjusted NCAA provisional qualifying time of 4:08.13 at the URI Coaches' Tribute Meet. Zawalich is also ranked 28th nationally with an adjusted NCAA provisional qualifying time of 8:20.71 at the URI Sorlien Invitational.
Zawalich leads three Stonehill runners seeded in the top four for the 1000-meter run. Junior All-American Nick Kirkpatrick (Carmel, Indiana/Brebeuf Jesuit Prep) is seeded second, while senior All-American Patrick Cooney (Douglaston, New York/Archbishop Molloy) is seeded fourth. Kirkpatrick earned All-Northeast-10 honors with a second place finish in the 1000 last winter, while Cooney is the reigning 800-meter NE-10 Champion and a two-time All-Conference performer for that event overall.
Freshmen Dillon Neumann (Harwinton, Connecticut/Lewis Mills) and Anthony Innamorati (Clinton, Massachusetts/Clinton) are seeded first and third, respectfully, in the pole vault. Neumann's personal best height of 13-feet, 7.25-inches at the Tufts Invitational is the top mark in the NE-10 so far this winter, while Innamorati cleared 13-03.50 at the URI Coaches' Tribute Meet.
Senior All-American Nick Staley (Medway, Massachusetts/BC High) is the defending NE-10 indoor high jump champion and a two-time All-Conference performer for the event overall, having never finished lower than third over his three previous NE-10 Indoor Championships. He is seeded fifth Saturday night with a height of 6-feet, 4.75-inches at the UMass Boston Opener and matched last weekend at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational at Boston University.
Senior Teague Grubel (Phoenix, Arizona/Shadow Mountain) is expected to have an impact in the 200-meter and 400-meter dashes and will also likely run as part of the 4x400 relay. He is seeded third in the 400 with his personal-best time of 49.56 at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational last weekend and ranked fifth in the 200 on a time of 22.11-seconds last weekend. Grubel placed third in the 200m at last year's NE-10 Indoor Championship.
Sophomore All-American Matt Baldasare (Mansfield, Massachusetts/Mansfield) is seeded sixth in the 400-meter run with his time of 49.96-seconds at the Boston University John Thomas Terrier Invitational in January. He placed second last year in the 400-meter run to earn All-Conference honors in addition to finishing ninth in the 200-meter run at the 2014 NE-10 Indoor Championships.
Freshman Dillon Neumann is seeded first in the pole vault. (PHOTO BY SportsPix) |
Sophomore Duncan Burleigh (Hingham, Massachusetts/Hingham) is seeded fourth in the 800-meter run with his personal-best time of 1:54.97 at last weekend's David Hemery Valentine Invitational after finishing eighth in the event as a freshman.
Freshman Jason Dimmick (Sutton, Massachusetts/Sutton) has had an immediate impact for Stonehill in his first collegiate season and is expected to have a factor in the 500-meter run where he is seeded third. He has also run with the Skyhawks distance medley relay, 4x400 and 4x800-meter relays this season.
Stonehill has five entries in the top 11 seeds for the 5000-meter run, led by senior Bryan Wilcox (Plantsville, Connecticut/Southington) who is seeded third with his time of 14:54.54 set at Boston University's John Thomas Terrier Invitational. He looks to capture All-Conference honors after placing fifth last winter in the event. Sophomore Joe Santo (Newburyport, Massachusetts/Newburyport) is seeded sixth in the 5000m, while senior Daniel Gordon (Plymouth, Massachusetts/Plymouth North) is seeded eighth, senior Seamus McEvoy (Longmeadow, Massachusetts/Longmeadow) tenth and sophomore Adam Rego (Rumford, Rhode Island/LaSalle Academy) 11th.
Juniors Mason Griffin (Wellesley, Massachusetts/Wellesley) and Morgan Johnson (West Newbury, Massachusetts/St. John's Prep) are seeded fourth in the shot put and weight throw, respectively. Griffin, who placed eighth in the event last winter, posted a school-record distance of 47-feet, 9.25-inches at the Tufts Invitational last month. Johnson also looks to earn All-Conference honors for the first time after placing fifth in the weight throw at the 2014 NE-10 Indoor Championships and posted a personal-best distance of 52-feet, 4-inches at the Tufts Invitational.
Senior Daniel Cormier (Methuen, Massachusetts/Methuen) is seeded well in both throwing events, checking in as the fifth seed for the weight throw and eighth in the shot put. He has three career top four placements at the NE-10 Indoor Championships, but seeks his first All-Conference performance after placing third in the weight throw in 2014 and fourth in both events as a sophomore.
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