Boston, MA --- Sophomore Jared Barros (Taunton, MA) was the top Division III finisher in two events and senior Stephen Gannon (Mansfield, MA) qualified for the Open New England Championships in the 400 meters as both highlighed a strong performance for the Worcester State men's track and field team at the non-scoring John Terrier Invitational.

Entering the week of January 26, the Lancers were ranked 23rd in the first USTFCCCA Composite Top 25 Index.

Barros registered 16th place in the 200 meters (21.81) and 17th in the 60 meters (7.00) to lead the way for the Lancers.

His converted 200 split from a banked track time (22.80) is currently second overall in the latest NCAA Division III rankings and his time of 6.96 from three weeks ago at the Dartmouth Relays remains 11th nationally.

During the competition, Gannon had the sixth-fastest 400 among Division III competitors with 46th in the 400 (49.79), which is converted into the 41st-best time on the NCAA list and its ranked sixth in New England.

Freshman Patrick Scheeler (Wakefield, MA) also was 53rd in the 1,000 (2:37.59) while the 4x400 meter relay team of Barros, freshman Marquis Johnson (W. Hartford, CT), junior Marc George (Framingham, MA) and Gannon timed 3:25.65 for 38th place.

The relay was the ninth-fastest Division III relay out of 58 entrants as Barros impressed with a hand-time of 49.50 in the lead-off leg.

Johnson added 38th in the 500 (1:07.33) for the eighth-best Division III time in the competition.

Worcester State will compete again next week at the Tufts Invitational as a warm-up to the MASCAC/Alliance Championships on February 14.