Two Skyhawks collect individual All-Academic awards

EASTON, Mass. (August 4, 2017) – The Stonehill College men's track & field team has been recognized as a 2017 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II All-Academic Team, as announced by the organization last week. In addition, two Stonehill student-athletes earned individual All-Academic awards from the USTFCCCA. The Stonehill men's track and field team has been recognized for their academics for a total of five years.

In order to qualify for All-Academic Team awards, a squad must post a cumulative team grade point average of 3.00 or higher. Stonehill, which registered a 3.23 team GPA, was among the 115 women's teams and 76 men's teams in NCAA Division II to earn All-Academic Team status.

Individually, senior Joe Santo (Newburyport, Massachusetts/Newburyport) and sophomore Stephen Vercollone (Pembroke, Massachusetts/Pembroke) collected All-Academic Awards from USTFCCCA. To be eligible for this honor, the student-athlete must have compiled a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 or higher and have reached a provisional or automatic qualifying standard for the NCAA Championships in either indoor or outdoor seasons.

Santo, who graduated with a degree in marketing, earns his fourth USTFCCCA All-Academic award of his career and second of the year. Santo has earned USTFCCA All-Academic in cross country from 2014-16. This past season, Santo provisionally qualified in outdoor track and field in the 5000- and 10000-meter runs. The senior posted a personal best time of 14:35.53 at the NEICAAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the 5000m finishing fifth and posting a new school record. The Newburyport, Massachusetts native also broke the school's previous 10,000m record by finishing first at the NE10 Championships with a time of 30:41.83. Santo hit the provisional mark in the 5000-meter run in indoor track and field, as well, where he posted a time of 14:41.20 at the NEICAAA Indoor Track and Field Championship.

Santo recently graduated Stonehill after being named to the NE10 Commissioner's Honor Roll for seven semesters and the Athletic Director's Honor Roll for five. He was also honored by being named to the CoSIDA Cross Country/Track & Field Academic All-District I First Team in 2016. He earned USTFCCCA All-East Region selection five times, with three of them being in indoor track & field. He was also a three-time participant at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships. Santo assisted the men's squad to one indoor NE10 championship, one indoor runner-up mark, one outdoor runner-up, and Stonehill's eighth cross country title and three cross country runner up-marks in his four years as a Skyhawk.

Vercollone earns his first USTFCCCA All-Academic award of his career. He bypassed the provisional mark in the 800-meter run in both indoor and outdoor track & field this year. Vercollone posted a time of 1:53.58 at the NEICAAAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, finishing seventh overall. The sophomore also clocked in at 1:51.65 in the 800-meter run at the outdoor Stonehill Skyhawk Invitational, earning first place at the event, and breaking into national ranking. Vercollone now holds the 800-meter school record in outdoor track & field.

The Pembroke, Massachusetts native has been named to the NE10 Commissioner's Honor Roll for two semesters and the Athletic Director's Honor Roll for one semester. He has also been named to the All-New England team four times and the USTFCCCA All-East Region team twice.

The Stonehill men's squad wrapped up the 2016-17 seasons with its third-straight second-place finish at the NE10 cross country championship, a third-place mark in the outdoor championship, and a fourth place tally at the indoor championship. The Skyhawks open up the 2017 cross country season at the Shacklette Invitational on Saturday, September 2, hosted by Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire.

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