SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Worcester State men's indoor track & field team danced to a first place finish in the Springfield College Maroon & White Classic Saturday evening, as the team's overall efforts led them to the outstanding accomplishment.
Freshman Marcus Vieira (Peabody, Mass.) and Sam Weeks (Methuen, Mass.) headlined the shot put and weight throw events. Vieira finished first in the weight throw with a distance of 15.70m (51-06.25), and Weeks came in second with 15.51m (50-10.75). With these results, both Vieira and Weeks qualified for not only for Division III New England's, but also ECACs.
The duo also came atop the shot put event, with Weeks at the number one spot at 14.45m (47-05.00), and Vieira at the number three spot with a distance of 13.25m (43-05.75). Worcester's Jacob Roumanos (Whitman, Mass.) and Anthony Christo (Peabody, Mass.) came in fourth and sixth in the shot put event at 13.14m (43-01.50) and 13.07m (42-10.75) lengths, respectively.
Sophomore Mamadu Dennis (Worcester, Mass.) qualified for Division III New England's in the 60 Meter Dash with a third place finish and time of 7.20.
Junior Jared Barros (Taunton, Mass.) captured first place in the 200 Meter Dash with a finals time of 23.14. Worcester's Andre Luciano (Milford, Mass.) and Anthony Lawson (Randolph, Mass.) came in the fourth and seventh spots, respectively. Lawson led the Lancers in the 400 Meter Dash with a third place finish in 53.10. Christian Cedullo (Salem, Mass.) and Shane McKinley (Melrose, Mass.) came in behind Lawson at eighth and ninth places.
Sophomore Marques Johnson (W. Hartford, Conn.), freshman Mitchell Cupp (North Attleboro, Mass.), and freshman Eric Sanford (Peabody, Mass.) came placed fourth, sixth, and eighth, respectively, for the Blue and Gold in the 600 Meter Run. Sophomore Jeffrey Davis (Old Lyme, Conn.) and Joseph Grider (Hopedale, Mass.) led the Lancers in the 800 Meter Run at the third and fifth spots on the 800 Meter.
Long distance runners Devin Luce (Milford, Mass.) and Patrick Scheeler (Wakefield, Mass.) finished second and third, respectively, on the mile run with times of 4:39.72 and 4:44.12.
As a team, the Lancers placed first in the 4x200 Meter Relay, and came in second in the 4x400. The team of Michael Ricci (Peabody, Mass.), Davis, Luce, and Scheeler qualified the team in the 4x800 Meter Relay with a time of 8:44.17. They came in third place in the event, just behind Trinity and Bridgewater State.
Senior Daniel Ross (Foxboro, Mass.) qualified for Division III New England's in the high jump event with a finals distance of 1.88m (6-02.00). In the pole vault event, Scott Page (Baldwinville, Mass.) came in second with a distance of 4.10m (13-05.25).
Elijah Mawejje (Woburn, Mass.) placed third in the long jump at 6.17m (20-03.00), while Ryan Connolly (Braintree, Mass.), Shane Finnegan (Hopedale, Mass.), and Dana Perry (Mendon, Mass.) filled the sixth, seventh, and eighth spots. Connolly captioned the triple jump event while Perry came in second with distances of 11.86m (38-11.00) and 11.74m (38-06.25).
"Despite sitting people out of a number of events, I was impressed with the performances of many of our team members," stated head coach Al Halper. "We had a solid number of personal records this week."
"I was also impressed with the way in which our athletes competed," commented Halper. "They were aggressive and showed great determination in the attempt to do their best. Our athletes stepped up their level of completion in every event and help contribute across the board to our team's success at the Springfield meet. The results were encouraging for things to come as we prepare for our conference meet in several weeks."
Next week the Lancers will travel to the Tufts Stampede scheduled for Jan. 29-30, while they will also look to compete at the Boston University John Thomas Terrier Classic on the 30th.
Full Results Can Be Found HERE