Fitchburg State Soars at DIII New England Championships

McClure places 13th overall in pole vault to pace women; 4x800m relay team registers ECAC qualifying time to lead the men

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (May 03, 2014) – The Fitchburg State men’s and women’s outdoor track & field teams competed in the 2014 DIII New England Championships hosted by Springfield College over the weekend.

For the men, senior Pat Conaty (Southington, Conn.) lead the way, posting an ECAC and Open New England qualifying vault of 4.50 meters, placing sixth overall in the event, while freshman Patryk Backiel (Fairhaven, Mass.) was also solid in the pole vault, registering a tenth place effort with a mark of 4.00m.

Freshman Brian Amaral (Tewksbury, Mass) was strong in the 10,000 meter, finishing 15th overall with of personal best time of 32:52.22, while sophomore Charles De La Rosa (Westfield, Mass.) turned in a time of 11.56 seconds in the 100 meter dash.

Newcomer Brandon Hannon (Pelham, N.H.) ran a 10:00.96 in the 3000 meter steeplechase, while the 4x800 meter relay team of freshman Chauncey Beatty (Waldorf, Md.) classmate Matt Cuomo (Carlisle, Mass.), junior Jim Quinlan (N. Andover, Mass.) and sophomore Richard Ethier (Shirley, Mass.) posted an ECAC qualifying time of 8:04.61.

The 4x100m relay team of Conaty, De La Rosa, freshman Trenton Garlington (Holbrook, Mass.) and sophomore Akhiel Willis (Acton, Mass.) placed 12th overall with a season best time of 44.08 seconds, while the 4x400 meter relay team of junior Ethan Gorecki (Winchendon, Mass.), freshman Nicholas Levenson (Halifax, Mass.), sophomore Daniel Fitzpatrick (Framingham, Mass.) and classmate Brandon Brideau (Leominster, Mass.) rounded out the top Fitchburg State performances, finishing 12th overall with time of 3:31.22.

Junior Rebecca McClure (Lyndeborough, N.H./) paced the women, placing 13th overall in the pole vault with mark of 3.12 meters, while freshman Emilee Felton (Millers Falls, Mass.) was strong in the javelin (15th), with a toss of 32.17 meters

On the track, junior Arthina Robert (Lynn, Mass.) put forth a solid time of 12.87 second to place 20th overall in the 100m dash to round out the top Falcon efforts on the women’s side at the 2014 Division III New England Championships.

Members of the Fitchburg State men’s and women’s outdoor track & field teams will be in action again next weekend as they compete at the 2014 All-New England Championships hosted by Westfield State University, starting on Friday at 4 p.m.