WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - Approximately 20 member of the Worcester State University men's and women's outdoor track & field teams competed Saturday on the second day of competition at the NCAA Division III New England Championships at Williams College.
The strongest showing of the day belonged to junior Eddy Acuna (Newton, Mass.), who had a pair of top-five finishes in throwing events on the afternoon. Acuna finished third in the discus throw at 44.72 meters and in fifth in the shot put at 14.82 meters. Senior Marcus Vieira (Peabody, Mass.) also competed in both events, finishing in 11th in the discus (40.61 meters) and 14th in the shot put (13.69 meters). Lancer Anthony Christo (Peabody, Mass.) was the 19th place finisher in the shot put at 12.80 meters.
Sophomores John Ojukwu (Stow, Mass.) and Abdulrazak Frederick (Shrewsbury, Mass.) each scored points for the Lancers on the day. Ojukwu was the seventh place finisher in the finals of the 100 meter dash at a time of 10.82 seconds, while Frederick crossed the line in eighth in the 400 meter hurdles at 56.89 seconds.
Freshman Drew Fottler (Chelmsford, Mass.) opened the day off with a 12th place finish in the 3,000 meter steeplechase, running a time of 9:54.50.
Senior jumper Ryan Connolly (Braintree, Mass.) competed in a pair of events on the afternoon, finishing in a tie for 10th place in the high jump by clearing 1.88 meters, and finishing in 14th in the triple jump at 12.96 meters. Classmate Scott Page (Winchendon, Mass.) was the 20th place finisher in the pole vault at 4.01 meters.
A pair of Lancer relay teams ran on the men's side, led by a ninth place finish (8:17.89) from the 4x800 meter team, consisting of Joe Grider (Hopedale, Mass.), Brian King (Stow, Mass.), Patrick Carleton (Tewksbury, Mass.), and Robert Doig (Ashby, Mass.). The 4x100 meter relay of Michael Butten (Marblehead, Mass.), Frederick, Zack Poitras (Webster, Mass.), and Ojukwu finished in 19th at 44.87 seconds.
On the women's side, sophomore Bernice Mensah (Worcester, Mass.) was the only Lancer to score points on the day with an eighth place finish in the triple jump at 11.37 meters. Mensah was also the final leg of the 4x100 meter relay team that finished in 13th at 50.16 seconds. Joining Mensah were Brenda Thomas (Worcester, Mass.), Abigail MacGregor (Salem, N.H.), and Emily Finnegan (Ashland, Mass.).
Newly crowned MASCAC Champion Riley Sanderson (Leominster, Mass.) was the 11th place finisher in the javelin throw on the day, clearing 35.97 meters.
The women's 4x800 meter relay rounded out the results for Worcester State on Saturday, as the team of Ryann Molinari (Grafton, Mass.), Elisabeth Olson (Wilmington, Mass.), Courtney Guay (Londonderry, N.H.), and Kyra Siano (North Attleboro, Mass.) finished in 14th place at 10:11.37.
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