Vercollone placed first in the 800 and ran the anchor leg for the Skyhawks winning 4x400-meter relay in Saturday. (PHOTO BY Bob Blanchard) |
Skyhawks post five first place finishes to highlight 18 top five finishes
AMHERST, Mass. (April 15, 2017) – The Stonehill College men's track and field program posted five event wins to highlight its strong performances at the Minuteman Invitational, hosted by the University of Massachusetts, at the UMass Track & Field Complex today.
Sophomore Stephen Vercollone (Pembroke, Massachusetts/Pembroke) was part of two of those event wins, starting with a first place finish in the 800-meter run, leading 21 entries with his personal-best time of 1:54.06. Senior Duncan Burleigh (Hingham, Massachusetts/Hingham) finished seventh and was also among six Skyhawks running the event with his time of 1:56.70.
Vercollone and Burleigh were also both part of Stonehill's 4x400-meter relay team which finished first out of six teams with a time of 3:23.86. Burleigh ran the lead leg, followed by junior Jason Dimmick (Sutton, Massachusetts/Sutton) and then sophomore David Lockhart (Stoughton, Massachusetts/Stoughton), before Vercollone completed the anchor leg.
Stonehill had a second relay take second in the 4x400 in 3:24.78. Sophomore Daniel Madsen (West Haven, Connecticut/Notre Dame-West Haven) ran the opening leg, followed by senior All-American Matt Baldasare (Mansfield, Massachusetts/Mansfield) and then freshman Atiba McLaren (Pittsford, New York/McQuaid Jesuit), followed by freshman Andrew Scarlotto (Portsmouth, New Hampshire/Portsmouth) on the anchor.
Scarlotto also finished third out of 11 runners in the 400-meter dash with a personal-best time of 50.28-seconds, while also placing 12th in the 200-meter dash in 23.38-seconds. Madsen took fifth in the 400 in a personal-best 50.55-seconds.
Bradford won the 5000-meter run for the Skyhawks. (PHOTO BY Bob Blanchard) |
Junior Sam Bradford (Bedford, Massachusetts/Bedford) and sophomore Lawrence Carney (Lowell, Massachusetts/Lowell) swept the top two spots in the 5000-meter run, leading three Stonehill runners and 14 entries overall. Bradford crossed the finish line first in 15:38.03, while Carney was second in 15:40.90.
Junior Stefan Balestra (Lincoln, Rhode Island/Lincoln) finished first in the hammer throw with a distance of 159-feet, even, while also placing fifth in the discus throw with a distance of 112-feet, 11-inches. Classmate James Murphy (Mansfield, Massachusetts/Mansfield) rounded out the Skyhawks winners as he led four entries in the 3000-meter steeplechase with his first place and personal-best time of 9:29.81.
Junior Jonathan Naval (Stratford, Connecticut/Bunnell) finished second out of nine entries in the triple jump by clearing a personal-best distance of 44-feet, 5.25-inches.
Sophomore Riley Dowd (Peabody, Massachusetts/Peabody Veterans Memorial) led five Stonehill entries in the 1500-meter run with a third place finish in a personal-best 3:57.51. The five Skyhawks were all within the top 11 out of 26 runners overall in the event, with sophomore Alexander Demeule (Merrimac, Massachusetts/Pentucket Regional) sixth in a personal-best 4:00.10, while sophomore Lucas Taxter (Readville, Massachusetts/Xaverian Brothers) placed eighth in 4:00.45.
Other Stonehill Highlights Include:
Balestra placed first in the hammer throw on Saturday. |
Junior Anthony Innamorati (Clinton, Massachusetts/Clinton) placed fourth out of nine entries in the pole vault by clearing a height of 13-feet, 11.25-inches.
Freshman Alexander Buchan (Norton, Massachusetts/Norton) finished fourth in the javelin throw by clearing a personal-best distance of 154-feet, 9-inches.
Sophomore Joe Connolly (Wilmington, Massachusetts/Austin Prep) placed fifth out of 15 entries in the 100-meter dash in 11.33-seconds.
Junior Joshua Hubbell (Gloucester, Massachusetts/St. John's Prep) finished fifth out of 16 competitors in the 200-meter dash with a personal-best time of 22.40-seconds, leading a trio of Skyhawks in the event as well.
Stonehill is back in action next weekend when it splits between the Holy Cross Decathlon and Invitational as well as the Larry Ellis Invitational, hosted by Princeton University. The Holy Cross Decathlon is Thursday and Friday, with the full Invitational on Saturday in Worcester, Massachusetts, while the Larry Ellis is Friday and Saturday in New Jersey. Stonehill, which is host of the 2017 Northeast-10 Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships May 5-6, will host its Skyhawk Invitational on Saturday, April 29, starting at 10:30 p.m.
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