Vercollone ran an unofficial school-record split on the 800-meter leg to help lead the Skyhawks to second in the DMR for his fifth career All-New England honor. (PHOTO BY SportsPix)

Skyhawks clock in with sixth-fastest time in Division II this winter with All-New England performance

DORCHESTER, Mass. (February 2, 2018) – The Stonehill College men's 4000-meter distance medley relay team highlighted the program's first day at the New England Indoor Track & Field Championships at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center tonight.

Stonehill earned All-New England honors for the seventh-straight year in the 4000-meter distance medley relay and posted the sixth-fastest time in Division II this winter tonight. The Skyhawks finished second to the University of Connecticut (9:48.97) with an NCAA Division II provisional qualifying time of 9:51.49, marking the fastest time in the Northeast-10 Conference this season, and the program's highest finish in the event since a second-place finish in 2012. The 2018 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships will be competed in March in Pittsburg, Kansas.

Demeule	Boyd
Vercollone	Taxter

Earning All-New England honors for Stonehill tonight were juniors Alexander Demeule (Merrimac, Massachusetts/Pentucket Regional), Stephen Vercollone (Pembroke, Massachusetts/Pembroke) and Lucas Taxter (Readville, Massachusetts/Xaverian Brothers) and freshman Hampton Boyd (Holliston, Massachusetts/Holliston). Demeule ran the opening 1200-meter run in 3:02.8, followed by Boyd with a 49.6-second split on the 400-meter leg, and then Vercollone finishing the 800-meter leg in 1:51.8, before Taxter ran the mile anchor in 4:07.1. Vercollone's leg was unofficially under school-record pace, while Taxter's unofficial mile is under the NCAA provisional qualifying standard.

Demeule earns All-New England honors for the event for the second-straight year, marking his third career All-New England performance overall. Vercollone earns All-New England honors for the fifth time in his career, with his fourth indoor performance, while Taxter earns the honors for the second time in his career with his first indoor performance. It marks the first All-New England award for Boyd.

Stonehill's eight points earned by the DMR puts the Skyhawks in sixth place in the team standings, which is led by Connecticut's 76.33 points. Stonehill is second among NE10 programs at the event, trailing Southern Connecticut State (10 points) and leading American International (6) by two points.

Junior Daniel Madsen (West Haven, Connecticut/Notre Dame-West Haven) led Stonehill's other results from Friday with an indoor personal-best time of 51.16-seconds in the 400-meter dash prelims to finish 25^th. Senior Stefan Balestra (Lincoln, Rhode Island/Lincoln) finished 14^th out of 24 competitors in the weight throw with a distance of 53-feet, 6.50-inches, while sophomore Justin Ireland (Norton, Massachusetts/Norton) placed 20^th out of 28 entries in the 200-meter dash prelims in 22.76-seconds.

The New England Indoor Track & Field Championships will continue with day two on Saturday at the Reggie Lewis Track & Athletic Center, in Dorchester, Massachusetts, on Friday and Saturday.

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