Fitchburg, MA --- Senior Jim Macera (Paxton, MA) had a fifth place toss in the hammer throw (46.00 meters) to qualify for the Division III New England Championships and help lead the Worcester State men’s outdoor track and field team to finish in 10th at the Jim Sheehan Invitational hosted by Fitchburg State.
The men were also paced by senior Matt Leeds (Bellingham, MA), junior RJ Stahelski (S. Deerfield, MA) and sophomore Nate Starling (Braintree, MA).
Leeds recorded fourth in the long jump (6.72m) to stamp his pass for the ECAC Championships while Starling added fourth in the 110 meter hurdles (15.79) and 14th in the 100 meters (11.55). Stahelski notched sixth in the 400 (50.53) and 23 rd in the 200 (23.55).
Freshman Jon Parella (Wilmington, MA) also led the sprinters as he placed 10th in the 400 meter hurdles (59.99) as classmate Todd Paquin (Pelham, NH) notched 22nd in the 100 (11.81).
Macera capped off his meet by placing 10th in the discus (36.34m) and 14th in the shot put (11.91m) while sophomore Nick Capone (Billerica, MA) recorded 10th in the shot put (12.29m) and 19th in the hammer throw (35.08m). Paquin leaped 10th in the long jump (6.05m) and newcomer Tyler Russell (Princeton, MA) had throws of 13th in the discus (35.33m) and 18th in the shot put (11.45m).
Sophomore Andrew Garcia (Brea, CA) cleared ninth in the pole vault with a height of 3.65 meters to round out the field events.
The men’s 4x100 relay squad clocked ninth with a time of 44.37.
Bates won the meet with 180 points followed by Wheaton (109), Division II UMass Lowell (100) and Southern Maine (92).
Next week the Blue and Gold head to UMass Dartmouth, the site of the 2010 MASCAC Outdoor Championships.