Skyhawks New England Champion 4000-meter DMR earns program's third-straight NE10 Relay of the Week honor; McNamee named Track Rookie of the Week
NE10 Track & Field Weekly Report
EASTON, Mass. (February 6, 2019) – The Stonehill College men's track & field program, ranked fourth in this week's U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II East Regional rankings, picked up a pair of weekly awards from the Northeast-10 Conference office for strong performances at the New England Indoor Track & Field Championships over the weekend, the league announced.
Stonehill's New England Champion 4000-meter distance medley relay earns NE10 Relay of the Week honors, marking the third-straight week and fourth time this season overall a Skyhawks relay has garnered the recognition. Freshman Nickolas McNamee was also recognized as the NE10 Track Rookie of the Week for his performance at the New England Championships.
Taxter |
Vercollone |
Demeule |
Boyd |
Senior All-Americans Alex Demeule, Lucas Taxter and Stephen Vercollone, along with sophomore Hampton Boyd combined to record Stonehill's first New England Championship in the DMR in program history with an NCAA Division II Championships qualifying time of 9:53.89. It marks the eighth-straight year a Skyhawks DMR has earned All-New England honors, improving on three previous second place finishes at the New England Championships in 2009, 2012 and 2018. Demeule ran the opening 1200-meter leg in 3:04.9, followed by Boyd running the 400-meter leg in 49.9-seconds and then Vercollone posting a 1:52.9 split for the 800 meter leg, before Taxter finished the one mile anchor in 4:06.0.
Stonehill's time currently ranks sixth on the NCAA Division II performance list in search of a spot at the 2019 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships in Pittsburg, Kansas, next month, while ranking second in the NE10. While the DMR earns NE10 Relay of the Week honors for the first time this winter, following its debut, Stonehill has had two 4x800-meter relays receive the recognition last week, as well as December 14, while a 4x400 earned the honors on January 22. Vercollone was a member of the first 4x800-meter relay to receive the weekly recognition on December 14 after winning at the season-opening Howlin' Huskies Invitational.
McNamee earns NE10 Rookie of the Week honors for track & field for the first time (PHOTO BY Mark Connolly) |
McNamee earns his first NE10 Track Rookie of the Week honor after his first career All-New England performance with a seventh place finish out of 23 entries in the one mile run on Saturday at the New England Championships. He finished first in the unseeded section in 4:16.38, shattering his previous season-best by nearly six seconds.
McNamee has competed in four indoor events for Stonehill, posting a first place finish in the one mile run a week earlier at the Branwen Smith-King Invitational in 4:22.05. He also ran the 1000-meter run at the University of Rhode Island's Sorlein Invitational on January 19 in 2:37.41 for sixth place.
McNamee enjoyed a strong start to his collegiate career as a member of Stonehill's NCAA East Regional Champion men's cross country program in the fall. He earned All-East Region honors with a seventh-place finish at the Regional Championships and All-NE10 third team accolades after placing 21st at the NE10 Championships. McNamee picked up NE10 Rookie of the Week honors during the cross country season on September 11, as well, following a 41st-place finish at Bryant University's Shawn M. Nassaney Memorial Invitational in his collegiate debut. He also earned a spot on the NE10 Academic and Athletic Director's Honor Roll for his efforts in the classroom.
Stonehill is back in action next Saturday, when the team splits between the David Hemery Valentine Invitational, hosted by Boston University, and the University of Rhode Island's Coaches' Tribute Meet. The Skyhawks championship season will continue the following weekend, February 16 and 17 at the Northeast-10 Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships, hosted by American International College, at Smith College's Indoor Track facility.
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