Fitchburg State Competes Hard At Harvard Open

Muolo collects pair of Top 8 honors; Lane earns Falcons top women’s finish of the day

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (December 11, 2010) – The Fitchburg State men’s and women’s track and field teams competed this afternoon as they traveled to Harvard University for the All-Division Harvard Open.

Senior Matt Muolo (Stoneham, Mass./Stoneham) paced the Fitchburg State men’s team, earning a pair of Top 8 honors in the field. Muolo notched his best performance of the day in the weight throw, hitting a distance of 16.44m and following up with a sixth place finish in the shot-put (13.59m).

Sophomore Jephte Pierre (Middletown, N.Y./Middletown) was also strong in the field, collecting two solid finishes in the pole vault and high-jump. The first-year track member recorded a seventh place showing in the pole vault with a distance of 4.10m, while finishing 12th in the high-jump with a 1.89m effort. Senior Alex Ivanov (Carlisle, Mass./Carlisle) rounded the Falcons top field winners with a 17th place showing in the long-jump (6.17m) and 21st place honor in the high-jump (1.75m).

On the track, junior Chris Kibler (Bath, Maine/Morse) brought home Fitchburg State’s best time of the afternoon, finishing 14th in the 3000m run with a pace of 9:02.51. Senior Matt Spano (Gardner, Mass./Gardner) joined Kibler among the Falcon elite with time of 2:05.24 and 4:34.32 in the 800m and mile runs, while junior Jimmy Petersen (Groton, Conn./Fitch) placed 28th in the 400m sprint with 52.45 effort.

Sophomore Tim Hill (E. Bridgewater, Mass./E. Bridgewater) and Ivanov led the Falcon sprinters throughout the afternoon. Hill placed 61st in the 60m dash with a time of 7.63, while Ivanov tallied a 9.38 showing in the 60m hurdles for 34th place overall.

On the ladies side, junior Kat Marrone (Springfield, Mass./Springfield Central) and sophomore Emily Lane (Clinton, Conn./The Morgan School) paced Fitchburg State with great performance both on the track and in the field. Marrone registered solid finishes in the 200m (28.04-50th) and 400m (1:02.25-17th) while also running a leg of the 4x400 relay along with Lane for a 15th place finish (4:42.09-15th). Lane was equally strong on the track in the 800m (2:39.45-35th) and 60m hurdles (10.15-24th), while notching seventh overall in the high-jump with a height of 1.49m.

Senior Erin Abbott (Warwick, Mass./Pioneer Valley) joined Lane, Marrone and senior Katy Scott (Wilbraham, Mass./Minnechaug) on the 4x400 relay team, while also notching a 17th place finish in the high-jump with a height of 1.49m.

On the throwing end, sophomore Shanissa Sampson (Marlborough, Mass./Marlborough) broke through for Fitchburg State, playing dual roles in both the shot-put and weight throw. Sampson collected 20th overall in the weight throw with a toss of 11.85m, while placing 30th in the shot-put with a distance of 9.88m. Classmates Megan Gonzalez (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood) and Riley Sullivan (Somerset, Mass./Somerset) added to the mix as Gonzalez earned a team-best 27th in the shot-put (10.14m) and Riley captured 28th place in the weight throw (10.22m).

The Fitchburg State men’s and women’s track team will be in action again after the break as it picks up at Jumbo Invitational hosted by Tufts University on January 15th.