NEC Men's Indoor Track & Field Championship Tournament Central

EASTON, Mass. (February 17, 2022) - The Stonehill College Men's and Women's Track and Field team will be competing in the Northeast Conference Indoor Track and Field Championship this week, February 19-20 at the Ocean Breeze Track & Field Athletic Complex in Staten Island.

"It should be a good meet for us, first year in the NEC so still kind of feeling out the process there," said Stonehill Track and Field Heach Coach, Michael Delgado. "We have some familiarity with a lot of the teams, we've got a few teams in the region, Sacred Heart, Central Connecticut, and Merrimack who we see fairly regularly at New England Championships and, and other meets in New England. But the rest of it is kind of an unknown. We can see what the teams look like on paper, but this'll be for the first time seeing most of those other teams at the championship."

Stonehill will have their most runners (four) competing in both the 60-meter dash and the 5,000-meter. In the 60-meter, the Skyhawks will have Solomon King, Shea Drugan, Patrick Morin, and John Paulhamus. King has had a stellar indoor year so far as the junior has dominated the 60-meter dash as he has posted sub-seveon second times in three meets this year including a personal-best, 6.86 seconds at the URI Coaches Invitational (Feb. 11). King's time is also good for second best in the entire NEC. Meanwhile, Drugan has finsihed in the top-five four times which included most recently at the URI Coaches Invitational when ran a 7.07 for fifth place. Not only was his time a new career-best, but is also ranked within the top-15 in the NEC (15th). In his first year with the Purple and White, Morin has made a strong impression as he has finished with a sub 7.30 four times and posted a personal-record at the URI Coaches Invitational at 7.17 seconds. Finally, Paulhamus also has had a strong indoor campaign as the junior had four top-five finishes highlighted by a third-place finish at the URI Coaches Invitational with a career-best, 7.07 seconds which is tied with Drugan for 15th fastest time in the NEC.

King and Drugan are also running in the 200-meter dash in which both runners have excelled in this year. King recently broke the school's 200-meter record when he posted a time of 21.43 seconds at the NEICAAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. King's record breaking time was previously held by Vinnie Williams set back in 2007. Not only is King's time best at Stonehill, it is also the best in the NEC this year. Other times he ran in the 200-meter this year, King finished within the top-five four times including a first-place win at the Suffolk Relays on December 3 when he had a time of 21.97 seconds. Meanwhile for Drugan, he has also notched mutliple top-10 finishes (twice) including a second place mark in the Suffolk Relays with a time of 22.30 seconds. He set a new personal-best at the NEICAAA Indoor Track and Field Championships with a time of 22.08 seconds for a ninth place finish. Drugan's time is also good for the seventh-fastest in the NEC.

The 5,000-meter will see Colin Black, Aidan Byrne, Patrick Garratt, and Jace Hollenbach represent the squad. Despite only competing in three meets this indoor season, Black has already made an impact. Black partook in the 5,000-meter at the Riverhawk Invitational (Jan. 27) and posted a time of 15:10.39 for an eighth place finish. Black's time is also ranked within the top 10 of the NEC (sixth). Byrne has ran in the 5,000-meter twice this year and notched top-15 finishes each time. He crossed the finish line in fourth at the UMass Flagship Indoor Invitational (15:42.56) and then at the NEICAAA Indoor Track and Field Championships earlier this month, he set a personal-best with a time of 15:26.69 (11th place). Byrne's time at the NEICAAA's is the 14th fastest in the NEC. Despite only running in the 5,000-meter once this year, Garratt posted a top-20 finish (15th) with a time of 15:33.55 which is also the 16th fastest time in the conference.  Finally, Hollenbach has also ran in the 5,000-meter twice this year and like Byrne, he has finished within the top-15 both times. In the Suffolk Relays (Dec. 3), Hollenbach came in third at 15:36.55 and during the Riverhawk Invitational, the sophomore ran a career-best, 15:17.98 for 11th place. His performance in the Riverhawk Invitational puts him in ninth for the NEC.

In the 3,000-meter, Andrew Janus and Reilly Johnston will be running for the Skyhawks and each have performed well in the race so far on the year. In Janus' lone race for the 3,000-meter, he notched a 25th-place  with a time of 9:14.37. Johnston has ran in the event twice this year and finsihed within the top-15 each time. At the Riverhawk Invitational, he came in 13th with a time of 8:42.56 and at the NEICAAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, he set a career-best at 8:41.44 for an 11th place finish. In the conference, Johnston's time ranks as the 12th fastest.

Stonehill will only see one runner compete in the 60-meter hurdles and the mile. In the hurdles, Jake Dwyer ran in the hurdles three times and he had top-15 finishes each time highlighted by a 13th plaace mark with a time of 9.61 seconds at the Suffolk Relays. His time at the relays is the 14th fastest time in the NEC. Meanwhile, in the mile, Connor Hughes will be representing the Skyhawks as he has ran in the mile four times so far and each time finished within the top-25. Hughes' strongest performance in the mile came during the Rivierhawk Invitational where the junior posted a new personal-best with a time of 4:20.45 (16th place) and is 15th in the conference. 

The Skyhawks will have runners competing in both the 4x400 relay, and the 4,000-meter distance medley relay. In the 4x400 relay, Drugan, King, Morin, Paulhamus, Ryan Lavery, and Andrew Morin will run for Stonehill. The Purple and White's best 4x400 took place at the URI Coaches Invitational when the squad came in second place at 3:32.20 beating out schools such as Holy Cross and UMass Amherst. Whereas in the 4,000-meter distance medley, Stonehill will have Hughes, Paulhamus, Thomas Forde, Johnston, Lavery, Janus, and Morin. The squad's strongest performance in the event came at the NEICAAA Indoor Track and Field Championships with a ninth place finish (10:24.07) beating out fellow Division I school, Holy Cross.

In field events, Stonehill will have multiple student-athletes (seven) competing. King will be partaking in his fourth event at the championship as he takes part in the high jump. His best performacne in the event was at the Suffolk Relays when he won the event with a leap of 2.00-meters (6.675") which ended up being the third best mark in the conference. Also competing in the high jump is sophomore, Jacob Pacheco who has notched top-10 finishes each time he has competed in the event. His best jump this year was at the URI Coaches Inviational with a mark of 1.91-meters (6'3.25") which was good for sixth place. In terms of the NEC, his jump is the seventh best. Him and King are just one of two schools in the conference to have multiple student-athletes within the top-10 of the event.

Pacheco will also be competing in pole vault in which has had four top-10 finishes so far during the season. His highest mark came during the NEICAAA Indoor Track and Field Championships where had a leap of 4.50-meters (14' 9") which also is the fourth best in the NEC. Also taking part in pole vault is Cody DeAngelo. At the URI Coaches Invitational, DeAngelo had a jump of 3.90-meters (12' 9.5") which is the 12th best in the NEC.

Parker Hagen and Sean Theurer are taking part in the triple jump and long jump respectively. Hagen has had multiple solid performances including a third place finish at the URI Coches Invitational with a jump of 12.93-meters (42' 5.25") and is the ninth best mark in the NEC. Meanwhile, in the long jump, Theurer's best jump came at the Suffolk Relays when he came in eighth place (6.22-meters, 20'5 "). 

Finally, in throwing events, the Skyhawks will have Chris Cox taking part in the weighted throw and Jonathan Scampoli in the shotput. Cox made his 2023 indoor debut last week at the URI Coches Invitational and set a new personal-record with a toss of 14.06-meters (46' 1.25") which was good for 11th place and in terms of the NEC, it is the 13th-longest throw. Scampoli has had a strong collegeiate debut as the freshman has posted two top-10 finishes in shotput this season. His best performance was at the URI Coaches Invitational when he came in ninth place with a toss of 13.30-meters (43' 7.75") and was also the 15th-best in the NEC.

For the latest on Stonehill Athletics, follow the Skyhawks via social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Fans can also download the Stonehill Skyhawks "Front Row" mobile app, powered by PrestoSports, on iTunes and the Android Market. 

Headline Photo Credit: Chris Cox