Men's Indoor Track Claims Seventh At Division III New England Championships

Worcester State Ranked Fifth In Latest USTFCCCA New England Composite Index

Lewiston, ME ---Sophomore classmates Terrence Gibson (Rockland, MA) and Duy Truong (Worcester, MA/Doherty) each earned All-New England individual accolades in two events as they helped propel the Worcester State men's indoor track and field team to seventh place at the Division III New England Championships on Saturday afternoon hosted by Bates.

The Lancers, who scored 41 team points, posted the third-highest total for a public institution and posted their best finish as a squad since the meet started competition in 1980. Their previous best was 10th place during the 2004-05 campaign.

Gibson became the eighth Lancer to capture a Division III Indoor crown as he turned in a school-record split of 8.35 to tie for the 21st highest time in the NCAA nationals list.  

Gibson also added fourth in the 60 meters (7.05) while Truong was right on his heels in fifth (7.06). In the NCAA performance list for the 60, Gibson is tied for the 17th-best spot.

Truong wrapped-up his meet with All-New England laurels in the indoor long jump for the second straight season with eighth (21-3.50/6.49m).

Sophomore Stephen Gannon (Foxboro, MA) notched fourth in the 200 meters (22.88) for All-New England honors before he teamed with senior Jon Parrella (Wilmington, MA), junior Ramses Rafael (Lawrence, MA) and freshman Justin Trafford (Milton, MA) to finish seventh in the 4x400 meter relay (3:26.78).

For the second-straight year, junior Andrew Johnson (Thompson, CT) posted a runner-up finish in the high jump (6-4/1.93m) for All-New England accolades before senior Sebastian Bilentschuk (Mansfield, MA) tossed a personal-best mark of seventh in the weight throw (51-08.50/15.76m).

Freshman Jerome Drane (Uxbridge, MA) continued his stellar first-year campaign with ninth in the 200 – just 0.5 seconds off qualifying for the finals – as he also tied for 15th in the 60 (7.29). Parrella and Rafael recorded 11th (51.16) and 17th (51.82), respectively, in the 400.

The 4x800 meter relay of sophomore Patrick Bova (Princeton, MA), junior Connor O'Neill (Webster, MA) along with senior classmates Kerry Sabanty (Stoughton, MA) and Tim Mazeika (Millbury, MA) placed 11th with a time of 8:13.78.

Junior Matthew Begley (E. Bridgewater, MA) registered 10th in the shot put (45-7.25/13.90m), which was a little under a foot away from an All-New England certificate.

Next week select Lancers will compete at the Open New England Championships hosted by Boston University.