Men's Track & Field Places Fourth at NE-10 Indoor Championships


Junior Joe Santo earned All-Northeast-10 honors in the 5000-meter run tonight. (PHOTO BY Mark Connolly)

Santo posts All-Conference performance in 5000m, several personal-bests highlight night

BOSTON, Mass. (February 20, 2016) – Stonehill College turned in a fourth place finish at the 2016 Northeast-10 Conference Men's Indoor Track & Field Championships at the Reggie Lewis Track & Athletic Center tonight.

Junior Joe Santo (Newburyport, Massachusetts/Newburyport) earned All-Northeast-10 honors in the 5000-meter run with his second place finish in a personal-best time of 15:06.13. Junior Antonio Xelhua (Arlington, Massachusetts/Arlington) turned in a PR of 15:33.02 to earn a point for the Skyhawks in eight place, while sophomore Kenny Vinacco (Scituate, Rhode Island/Scituate) rounded out the top ten in the event with a personal-best 15:56.37.

Freshman Stephen Vercollone (Pembroke, Massachusetts/Pembroke) just missed out on All-Conference honors in the 800-meter run as his personal-best time of 1:54.93 qualified for the New England Championships and placed third tonight – a mere 0.14-seconds off the winning pace. Junior Duncan Burleigh (Hingham, Massachusetts/Hingham) placed ninth in 1:57.40 and sophomore Alex Southiere (Cumberland, Rhode Island/Cumberland) and freshman Matthew Shaw (Goffstown, New Hampshire/Goffstown) finished 11th and 12th respectively in 1:59.62 and 1:59.86.

Vercollone and Burleigh ran the first two legs of Stonehill's 4x800-meter relay that finished fourth in 7:52.48. They were followed by freshman David Lockhart (Stoughton, Massachusetts/Stoughton) and sophomore Jason Dimmick (Sutton, Massachusetts/Sutton).

Dimmick also finished fourth in the 500-meter run with a personal-best time of 1:05.81, while freshman Daniel Madsen (West Haven, Connecticut/Notre Dame-West Haven) placed eighth in a personal-best 1:06.77. Lockhart was fourth in the 1000-meter run in 2:32.06, while sophomore James Murphy (Mansfield, Massachusetts/Mansfield) finished seventh in a personal-best 2:36.36. Freshman Riley Dowd (Peabody, Massachusetts/Peabody Veterans Memorial) placed ninth in 2:38.92.

Madsen ran the lead leg of Stonehill's 4x400-meter relay team finished third with a time of 3:26.48, with sophomores Patrick Ahern (Charlotte, North Carolina/Providence Day School) and Joshua Hubbell (Gloucester, Massachusetts/St. John's Prep) as well as junior All-American Matt Baldasare (Mansfield, Massachusetts/Mansfield) completing the order.

Ahern also ran the 800-meter leg of Stonehill's 4000-meter distance medley relay team that finished fourth in 10:22.19. Freshman Christopher Drace (Franklin, New Jersey/Pope John XXIII) ran the opening 1200-meter leg, followed by Ahern, junior Steven Bomba (Putnam Valley, New York/Iona Prep) on the 400-meter leg and then Dowd completed the mile anchor leg.


Freshman Stephen Vercollone placed third in the 800m and was also part of the Skyhawks 4x800 relay. (PHOTO BY Mark Connolly)

Stonehill finished the meet with 79 points for a fourth place finish as a team at the NE-10 Championships. American International College won its second straight title with 177 points, while Southern Connecticut State University was second at 121.50 and then Franklin Pierce University was third with 81 points, just two ahead of the Skyhawks.

Sophomore Anthony Innamorati (Clinton, Massachusetts/Clinton) placed third in the pole vault by clearing 13-feet, 11.75-inches, while freshman Daniel Bomba (Putnam Valley, New York/Iona Prep) was eighth at 12-11.75.

Freshman Joe Connolly (Wilmington, Massachusetts/Austin Prep) posted a fourth place finish in the 200-meter dash with a personal-best time of 22.32-seconds, which meets the qualification standard for the New England Championships. He also earned a PR in the 60-meter dash as his time of 7.133-seconds in the preliminary round placed him tenth.       

Other Results Included:

Senior Robert Massey (Chelmsford, Massachusetts/Chelmsford) finished fourth in the 3000-meter run in 8:45.05, while freshman John Onken (Holbrook, New York/Sachem North) placed sixth with a personal-best time of 8:52.32. Freshman Lawrence Carney (Lowell, Massachusetts/Lowell) and junior Daniel Nolan (Chelmsford, Massachusetts/Chelmsford) finished in eighth and ninth, respectively, for the Skyhawks with time of 8:57.09 and a personal-best 9:01.23 for Nolan.

Sophomore Mark Hamalian (West Bridgewater, Massachusetts/Bridgewater-Raynham) placed fifth in the high jump after clearing a height of 6-feet, 0.50-inches. Sophomore Jordan Sullivan (Sound Beach, New York/Miller Place) also cleared 6-00.50, but placed seventh on attempts.

Senior Mason Griffin (Wellesley, Massachusetts/Wellesley) took fifth in the shot put with his distance of 48-feet, 10-inches. He was also 13th in the weight throw with a personal-best throw of 43-10.75, while sophomore Stefan Balestra (Lincoln, Rhode Island/Lincoln) finished eighth to collect a point for the Skyhawks with a distance of 48-02.50.

Freshman Alexander Demeule (Merrimac, Massachusetts/Pentucket Regional) and sophomore Sam Bradford (Bedford, Massachusetts/Bedford) placed seventh and eighth, respectively, in the one mile run. Demeule finished in 4:25.85, while Bradford was posted a time of 4:27.78.

Sophomore Jonathan Naval (Stratford, Connecticut/Bunnell) earned a point for Stonehill with his eighth place finish in the triple jump with a personal-best distance of 45-feet, 2.25-inches.

Stonehill is back in action next weekend when its qualifiers for the New England Indoor Track & Field Championships compete on Friday and Saturday at the Boston University Track & Tennis Center.

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