Top Five Finishes Lead Men's Track & Field at Tufts Stampede


Santo won the 5000-meter run with the top time in the NE10 this season. (PHOTO BY Mark Connolly)

Santo wins 5000-meter run in NE10 season-best time to lead 17 top five finishes

MEDFORD, Mass. (January 28, 2017) – The Stonehill College men's track and field program posted 17 top five finishes to highlight its participation in the Tufts Stampede, hosted by Tufts University, inside the Gantcher Athletic Center today.

Senior Joe Santo (Newburyport, Massachusetts/Newburyport) posted the best time in the Northeast-10 Conference this season and 20th-fastest in all of Division II this winter to date as he led a Stonehill sweep of the top three spots and five Skyhawks in the top ten overall in the 5000-meter run with a time of 15:00.96 - adjusted to 14:51.41 for a flat track. Classmate Daniel Nolan (Chelmsford, Massachusetts/Chelmsford) finished a distant second in a personal-best 15:17.29, while sophomore John Onken (Holbrook, New York/Sachem North) placed third in a personal-record 15:29.13. Sophomore Lawrence Carney (Lowell, Massachusetts/Lowell) and junior Kenny Vinacco (Scituate, Rhode Island/Scituate) rounded out the Skyhawks in sixth and seventh, respectively in 15:44.91 and 15:48.19 (PR).

Onken also ran the third leg of Stonehill's winning 4x800-meter relay with a season-best time of 8:13.80. Sophomore Christopher Drace (Franklin, New Jersey/Pope John XXIII) ran the lead leg, followed by freshman Jeremy Breen (Watertown, Massachusetts/Watertown) and Onken, before sophomore Alexander Demeule (Merrimac, Massachusetts/Pentucket Regional) brought the win home with his anchor leg.

Stonehill's 4x400-meter relay team finished second out of 11 entries with a time of 3:27.00. Running for the Skyhawks were senior All-American Matt Baldasare (Mansfield, Massachusetts/Mansfield), sophomore Joe Connolly (Wilmington, Massachusetts/Austin Prep), junior Joshua Hubbell (Gloucester, Massachusetts/St. John's Prep) and freshman Atiba McLaren (Pittsford, New York/McQuaid Jesuit).


Hamalian finished fourth in the heptathlon, placing first in the high jump, long jump and pole vault. (PHOTO BY SportsPix)

Baldasare also finished second out of 32 entries in the 400-meter dash in 51.60-seconds, while freshman Andrew Scarlotto (Portsmouth, New Hampshire/Portsmouth) took fourth in 52.04. Connolly placed fifth in the 60-meter dash final in 7.19-seconds after qualifying fourth out of 54 sprinters in the preliminary heats in 7.21-seconds. He was also 11th in the 200-meter dash in 23.45-seconds.

Hubbell added a fourth place finish out of 58 competitors in the 200-meter dash in 23.16-seconds, while taking fifth out of 29 entries in the long jump with a distance of 20-feet, 7.75-inches. Junior Jonathan Naval (Stratford, Connecticut/Bunnell) placed second out of 16 competitors in the triple jump with his distance of 44-feet, 3.25-inches.

Senior Duncan Burleigh (Hingham, Massachusetts/Hingham) led a pack of five Stonehill runners in the top ten of the 1000-meter run with his third place finish in a field of 26 runners overall in 2:33.72. Demeule finished fourth in 2:34.15, while classmate Stephen Vercollone (Pembroke, Massachusetts/Pembroke) was fifth in 2:36.03 and Drace was sixth in 2:36.19. Breen rounded out the quintet of Skyhawks in seventh in 2:36.59.

Junior Mark Hamalian (West Bridgewater, Massachusetts/Bridgewater-Raynham) finished off a fourth place finish in the heptathlon with 4,185 points. He was second after four events on day one with 2,490 points, winning the long jump with a distance of 21-feet, 0.75-inches. Hamalian added a first place finish in the pole vault today by clearing 11-feet, 1.75-inches today, along with a third place finish in the high jump with a height of 5-feet, 11.25-inches.


Naval placed second in the triple jump. (PHOTO BY SportsPix)

Other Results Include:

Junior James Murphy (Mansfield, Massachusetts/Mansfield) finished third out of 34 entries in the one mile run, pacing three Stonehill competitors, including two in the top five, with his personal-best time of 4:24.45. Sophomore Matthew Shaw (Goffstown, New Hampshire/Goffstown) took fifth in a personal-best 4:26.05.

Freshman Collin Kuchachik (Orange, Connecticut/Amity Regional) placed fourth in the 60-meter high hurdles final in a personal-best time of 8.97-seconds after qualifying fifth for the final, out of 17 entries in 8.99-seconds.

Junior Jordan Sullivan (Sound Beach, New York/Miller Place) placed fourth out of 12 competitors in the high jump by clearing 6-feet, 2-inches on his second attempt.

Junior Stefan Balestra (Lincoln, Rhode Island/Lincoln) placed fifth out of 38 entries in the weight throw with his distance of 50-feet, 7.50-inches. 

Stonehill returns to action next Saturday when it competes in the Coaches' Tribute Meet, hosted by the University of Rhode Island, at 11 a.m.

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