Boston, MA --- The Worcester State Men's Track and Field Team traveled to Harvard to compete at the Harvard Invitational on Saturday 12/13/08. For the second week in row, in the second meet of the season, the Lancers were very impressive in several events and in others, saw improvement over last week's performances. In a field that included athletes from Division I, II, and III, Worcester State did its best to represent Division III.
Leading the way was Mark Johnson in the 60m dash. Johnson finished eighth overall in a time of 7.15 and was the first Division III athlete in the competition. He also placed 10th in the 200m with a time of 22.91 in that event. Having qualified last week for the DIII New England Championships in both the 55m and the 200m, Mark added a qualifier in the 200 for the DIII ECAC championships with his performance this week.
Freshmen standout, Ian Fields also had another good week placing in a tie for 7th in the high jump with a jump of 1.85m after already qualifying last week for the New England regoinals. Fields added D3 NE qualifiers in the 200m and 400m. In the 200m, he ran 23.27 and 51.34 for the 400m. Freshman thrower, Zach DesRochers, improved about four feet in the 35lb weight to toss the weight 13.20m (43'3.75") and was second in the open shot put with a D3 New England qualifying distance of 13.52m (44'4.25").
wo others, junior Pius Oyelohunnu fell just shy of the D3 qualifiers in their events, but should meet the standard as the season progresses. Oyelohunnu missed the 60m dash final by three places running 7.34 in the trials. He also had a time of 23.58 in the 200m just .14 off the standard.
RJ Stahelski , who is concentrating this indoor season on the 500m/600m races, fell just shy of the school record in the 500m posting a 1:09.49 over the long sprint distance. His time was also just .85 off the D3 qualifying standard. Another performance of note was freshman Nate Hawkins who finished thirteenth in the open shot put with a toss of 11.56m (37'10.75"), a large improvement over his first time throwing the college 16lb shot put last week.
Newcomers to the team, junior Paul Ajuonuma (sprints), sophomores Mike Black (sprints) and Pat Anderson (shot put), and freshmen Jim Goyette (sprints/jumps), Chike Osakwe (sprints), Dylan Hayes (shot put), Capone (shot put), continue to gain valuable experience ass they adjust to college competition.
The team now goes on break between semesters and expects to continue to strive towards success with a solid training regimen over the intersession period. Hopes are high that with hard work and dedication over the break, that the team will show even more outstanding performances when they return to compete at Tufts on January 17, 2009.
Release Courtesy of Men's Indoor Track and Field Head Coach Al Halper