Men's Outdoor Track Stays At Ninth In USTFCCCA New England Region Rankings

Cambridge, MA --- The 4x100 meter relay team of junior Todd Paquin (Pelham, NH), sophomores Luke Curtis (Dudley, MA) and Ramses Rafael (Lawrence, MA) and freshman Duy Truong (Worcester, MA/Doherty) took home first place with a time of 42.49 to help lead the Worcester State men's track and field team to ninth at the Division III New England Championships this afternoon at MIT.

MIT won the meet with 113 points while the Lancers had the third highest public school finish with 33 points as they were edged out by RIC (7th – 39) and UMass Boston (8th – 34.5).

The top relay time marked the first time that the men have won a relay since the mile relay team won the ECAC College Division crown in 1975 and went to the Division III Outdoor meet. Three Lancer Hall of Fame athletes sprinted on the relay squad that posted a time of 3:18.8.

Other Division III New England honorees included sophomore Kevin Maciel (Tewksbury, MA) who broke his own school mark in the 400 meter hurdles with sixth (54.80) while freshman Terrence Gibson (Rockland, MA) added 7th in the 200 (22.47).

Sophomore Andrew Johnson (Thompson, CT) rounded out the group with a tie for fifth in the high jump (1.93m/6-4) to stamp his ticket to the ECAC Division III Championships while classmate Matthew Begley (E. Bridgewater, MA) just missed with a personal-best toss of ninth in the shot put (14.48m/47-06.25).  Freshman Daniel Ross (Foxboro, MA) was also 12th in the high jump (1.88m/6-2).

Junior Jon Parrella (Wilmington, MA) added 16th in the 400 meter hurdles (58.61) while Truong notched 17th in the 200 (22:89). Freshman Matthew Alley (Milford, MA) placed 16th in the 100 (11.48) and Rafael was 19th overall in the 400 (51.57). Sophomore Jason Sliwoski (Leicester, MA) also notched 23rd in the 100 meter hurdles (17.12).

In the field, junior Harrison McCann (Rutland, MA) finished 11th in the hammer (17.52m/155-11) and 15th in the shot put (13.72m/44-04) as senior Nick Capone (Billerica, MA) recorded 24th in the shot put (11.77m/38-07.50).

The 4x400 meter relay team of Rafael, Maciel, Parrella and junior Tim Mazeika (Millbury, MA) ran a time of 3:24.77 in 13th.

The 4x800 meter squad of junior teammates Kerry Sabanty (Stoughton, MA) and Connor O'Neill (Dudley, MA), sophomore Zach Creeden (Billerica, MA) and freshman Patrick Bova (Princeton, MA) rounded out the finishers with a time of 8:16.27.

Next week select Lancers will return to Steinbrenner Field to compete at the Open New England Championships hosted by MIT.