FITCHBURG, Mass. - The Worcester State University men's and women's track & field teams competed Saturday at the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships, hosted by Fitchburg State University, with the men finishing in second place and the women in third place.
On the women's side, sophomore Bernice Mensah (Worcester, Mass.) and senior Mia Rogers (North Dighton, Mass.) each won a pair of the events to lead the Lancers. Mensah was crowned MASCAC championship in the 100 meter dash with a time of 12.91 seconds, as well as in the triple jump at 11.50 meters. Rogers won MASCAC championships in the 5,000 meter at a time of 18:36.38 and in the 1,500 meter run at 5:01.15.
Junior Abigail MacGregor (Salem, N.H.) earned MASCAC champion honors in the 200 meter dash on the day, crossing the line in 26.63 seconds. The final Lancers women's athlete to win a MASCAC championship Saturday was freshman Riley Sanderson (Leominster, Mass.), who won the javelin with a throw of 34.64 meters.
MacGregor finished right behind Mensah in the 100 meter dash, finishing in second with a time of 13.01 seconds, while freshman Ryann Molinari (Grafton, Mass.) finished in third place in the 1,500 meter run at 15:16.49. The women's 4x100 and 4x400 meter relays each finished in second place.
A trio of Lancer men won MASCAC championships on the day as well. Sophomore Abdulrazak Frederick (Shrewsbury, Mass.) won the 400 meter hurdles in a time of 57.30, while junior Eddy Acuna (Newton, Mass.) won the discus with a heave of 43.81 meters, and senior Marcus Vieira (Peabody, Mass.) won the hammer throw at 53.89 meters.
A handful of Lancers turned in second and third place finishes, led by Vieira with a second place finish behind Acuna in the discus (42.78 meters), and a third place finish in the shot put (14.62 meters). Acuna narrowly edged out Vieira in the shot put at 14.74 meters, while Anthony Christo (Peabody, Mass.) finished second in the hammer throw at 47.34 meters.
Jumper Markiesh Harmon (Leominster, Mass.) had a pair of top-three finishes, coming in at second in the high jump at 1.90 meters, and third in the long jump at 6.38 meters. Senior Ryan Connolly (Braintree, Mass.) finished third in the triple jump at 13.26 meters.
Frederick pulled in a second place finish in the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 15.57 seconds. Sprinter John Ojukwu (Stow, Mass.) missed the top spot on the podium by 0.03 seconds in the 100 meter dash, running a time of 11.18 seconds to finish in second, while freshman Drew Fottler (Chelmsford, Mass.) was the runner up in the 5,000 meter run at 16:01.01.
The Division III New England Championships will begin next Friday when the teams return to action. Both men's and women's squads will compete at Williams College.
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