Worcester, MA- The Worcester State Men's Track and Field team journeyed to Fitchburg State today to compete in the 2023 MASCAC Outdoor Championship. The Lancers finished , and top finishes by sophomore Brodie Jacques (Rehoboth, MA) who walked away with three MASCAC Championships in the afternoon.
As the weather slowly made its way toward the meet, the field events were quick to get underway today with Jacques claiming his first of his top finishes with a 6.95m leap in the long jump. First year Elvis Velez (Clinton, MA) ended in 7th place in the event with a 5.98m. Jacques would also claim a third place finish in the high jump with a 1.80m jump. First year Taylor Gavaletz (Dudley, MA) would also find success in the pit with a 4th place finish of 12.09m mark. Senior Colin Brennan (Newbury, MA) would add another top five finish on the field side for the Lancers as he recorded a 51.49m throw for fifth place. Junior Matthew Long (East Bridgewater, MA) finished in 9th with a 44.63m throw. Rounding out the field events was junior Jack Houlihan (Holden, MA), Matt Long (East Bridgewater, MA) and sophomore Max O'Connor. Houlihan finished the day in 6th in the discus after measuring 39.75m while O'Connor came in 8th with 37.32m. Long would be the lone mark in the hammer as he finished in seventh place with a 37.38m mark.
The 4x100m relay team of Jacques, Velez, sophomore Giovanni Casiano (Oxford, MA) and senior Brendan Sharkey (Fort Wayne, IN) would continue their speed streak, coming in second in the afternoon. Jacques would continue his day's success with another first place finish, this time in the 100m. He followed this up with another top finish in the 200m where Velez would again join him, this time crossing in 8th place. Gavaletz would continue his field success on the track as well with a 4th place crossing in the 400m hurdles in a 61.06 second time, while fellow first year Seth Boudreau (Douglas, MA) captured his own fourth place finish in the 400m in a time of 52.43 seconds.
The Lancers had a strong finish in the distance races on the day as senior Daniel Clark (Worcester, MA) grabbed second in 800m, crossing in a time of 2:02.43 as first year Alexander Lucier (Gardner, MA) and junior Matthew Talbot (Belchertown, MA) competed in the 1500m. Lucier crossed in seventh in 4:24.09 while Talbot finished in a time of 4:31.32 for ninth on the day. First year James Riley (Shrewsbury, MA) was the lone Lancer runner in the 3000m Steeplechase, where he finished in a resounding 2nd place finish in a time of 10:09.49.He followed up this top placement with a third place crossing in the 5000m in a brisk 16:31.39. Also looking to go the distance was fellow first year Alexander Matsuyasu (Newton, MA) who finished in 10th in a time of 37:53.72 in the grueling 10000m race.
The final two events of the day saw the 4x800 and 4x400 relay teams take center stage. The 4x800 team, made up of Clark, Lucier, O' Leary and Riley crossed the finish line in 8:48.26 for a 2nd place finish while the 4x400 team consisting of Velez, Gavaletz, Boudreau and Sharkey finished in 4th in a time of 3:35.89.
The Lancers are back in action next weekend starting May 4th, as those athletes who have qualified compete at the New England DIII Regional Championship in Springfield, MA.