Santo won his first New England title and earned All-New England honors for the second straight year in the 5000m with an NCAA provional qualifying time. (PHOTO BY SportsPix) |
Skyhawks fifth in team standings with three All-New England performances
DORCHESTER, Mass. (February 24, 2017) – The Stonehill College men's track & field program sits in fifth place in the team standings with three All-New England performances after the first day of the 2017 New England Indoor Track & Field Championships, hosted by the Reggie Lewis Track & Athletic Center, today.
Senior Joe Santo (Newburyport, Massachusetts/Newburyport) captured his first career New England individual title by winning the 5000-meter run in an NCAA provisional qualifying and personal-best time of 14:41.20, earning All-New England honors in the event for the second straight year. His time currently ranks 36th nationally in Division II as he improves on a sixth place finish in this event a year ago.
Sophomore Stephen Vercollone (Pembroke, Massachusetts/Pembroke) also provisionally qualified for next month's NCAA Division II Championships in Birmingham, Alabama, and qualified for tomorrow's final in the 800-meter run with a personal-best time of 1:53.58. He qualified sixth for tomorrow's final and his time ranks 48th nationally in Division II.
Stonehill's 4000-meter distance medley relay turned in a sixth place finish in 10:10.49 to earn three points for the Skyhawks. Earning All-New England honors for the event were sophomore Alexander Demeule (Merrimac, Massachusetts/Pentucket Regional) who ran the opening 1200-meter leg in 3:05.4, senior All-American Matt Baldasare (Mansfield, Massachusetts/Mansfield) with a 50.5-second split in the 400-meter leg, with sophomore Matthew Shaw (Goffstown, New Hampshire/Goffstown) running the 800-meter leg in 1:55.7, before handing off to classmate Christopher Drace (Franklin, New Jersey/Pope John XXIII) to complete the one mile anchor leg in 4:18.2.
Junior Jordan Sullivan (Sound Beach, New York/Miller Place) earned All-New England honors for the first time in his career while competing at his first New England Championship as he finished in a five-way tie for eighth place, splitting a point in the team scoring in the high jump as he cleared a height of 6-feet, 4.25-inches.
Sullivan earned All-New England honors in his first NE Championship appearance in the high jump. (PHOTO BY SportsPix) |
Junior Mark Hamalian (West Bridgewater, Massachusetts/Bridgewater-Raynham) competed in the first four events of the heptathlon and turned in a second place finish in the high jump by clearing a personal-best 6-feet, 1.50-inches. He was also fourth in the long jump with a distance of 20-feet, 10.75-inches, while placing sixth in both the 60-meter dash (7.52-seconds) and shot put (personal-best 33-04.00).
Stonehill sits in fifth place in in the team standings after the first day with its four All-New England performances with 13.20 points. Northeastern University leads the event with 35 points, followed by the University of Rhode Island (43 points) and Tufts University (16.20).
Other Stonehill Highlights Include:
Junior Anthony Innamorati (Clinton, Massachusetts/Clinton) placed 11th out of 19 entries in the pole vault by clearing a height of 14-feet, 5.25-inches.
Junior Stefan Balestra (Lincoln, Rhode Island/Lincoln) placed 14th out of 23 competitors in the weight throw with a personal-best distance of 52-feet, 1.00-inches.
Sophomore Daniel Madsen (West Haven, Connecticut/Notre Dame-West Haven) placed 16th in qualifying for tomorrow's final in the 500-meter dash in 1:07.51.
The New England Championships continue on Saturday from the Reggie Lewis Center starting at 11 a.m.
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