Men's Indoor Track Holds On To Fifth In USTFCCCA New England Regional Index Ranking
Boston, MA --- The 4x400 and 4x800 meter relay teams both eclipsed school marks and sophomore Terrence Gibson (Rockland, MA) garnered All-New England laurels with sixth overall in the 60 meters (7.02) as they helped the Worcester State men's indoor track & field team place 29th at the Open New England Championships hosted by Boston University.
The two-day meet featured top-flight competition from all three divisions from around New England as the Lancers were one of 14 Division III schools to net at least one point.
Gibson, who did not qualify for the finals in the 60 meter hurdles, put up the fifth-best time in the NCAA Division III in the trials yesterday for a school record (8.13) as he stands a good chance of making the top 13.
For his efforts in the 60, Gibson was named MASCAC Track Athlete of the Week.
The 4x400 relay team of junior Ramses Rafael (Lawrence, MA), senior Jon Parrella (Wilmington, MA), freshman Justin Trafford (Milton, MA) and sophomore Stephen Gannon timed a split of 3:20.10.
It was during Rafael's freshman year that he helped the 4x400 relay team establish the previous school mark at the ECAC Championships during the 2011-12 campaign (3:20.96).
The 4x800 squad that was comprised of senior Kerry Sabanty (Stoughton, MA), sophomore Patrick Bova (Princeton, MA), junior Connor O'Neill (Dudley, MA) and fourth-year Tim Mazeika (Millbury, MA) shattered the previous mark by nearly seven seconds (7:51.74).
Sabanty, Bova and Mazeika helped set the previous standard at last year's Open New England's (7:57.67) as all four runners in today's event ran personal-best 800 meter times.
Both relay squads placed 15th overall in their respective events.
Sophomore Duy Truong (Worcester, MA/Doherty) placed ninth in the 60 meters (7.09), just 0.02 seconds off from the finals.
Junior Andrew Johnson (Thompson, CT) was one of seven to equal ninth in the high jump (6-4.25/1.94 meters), which was only two inches off of All-New England honors.
Next week select members of the Blue and Gold will compete at the ECAC Division III Championships at the NYC Armory.
Friday's Recap
Boston, MA --- Sophomore classmates Terrence Gibson (Rockland, MA) and Duy Truong (Worcester, MA/Doherty) qualified for the finals in three events as they helped lead the Worcester State men's track and field team on the first day of the Open New England Championships.
Gibson put up one of the fastest times this season in Division III with sixth in the 60 meter hurdles (8.13) to break his own school mark set last week when he won the Division III New England title in the event.
He also placed fifth in the 60 meters (6.98) while Truong was eighth in the 60 (7.04). Truong finished his stellar day with a personal-best time of 8.54 in the 60 meter hurdles in 19th, just three spots away from semifinals.
Freshman Jerome Drane (Uxbridge, MA) put up a season-best time of 22.36 in the 200 for 18th overall for the second-highest place for a Division III competator before he placed 28th in the 60 (7.38).
Sophomore Stephen Gannon (Foxboro, MA) was not far behind in 30th in the 200 (22.79).
Fourth-year Jon Parrella (Wilmington, MA) tallied 31st in the 400 (50.57) as classmate Kerry Sabanty (Stoughton, MA) and freshman Justin Trafford (Milton, MA) both placed 21st (1:07.0) and 28th (1:07.96), respectively, in the 500.
Senior Luke Curtis (Dudley, MA) also added 24th in the 60 while sophomore Matt Alley (Milford, MA) notched 27th in the same event (7.35).
Check the website tomorrow for results from the high jump, sprinting events and the relays.