NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. – The Roger Williams University Men's Track & Field team had one of their best showings of the season, taking second place in at the Corsair Invitational, hosted by the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth.
Leading the team in scoring with 20 individual points, Emil Pornelos (Hartford, Vt.) had an exceptional day for the Hawks. The sophomore took second place in the Discus with a toss of 131'6”. He also placed third in both the Hammer and Shot Put with throws of 136'9” and 43'11.25”, respectively. His mark in the Shot Put, one inch from the New England Championship qualifying mark, shattered the school record, set in 2001 by Andrew Abhileria.
Not to be outdone by his older brother, Jon Pornelos (Hartford, Vt.) rewrote the RWU record books by hurling the Javelin 186'9”, breaking his own record set at Northeastern in March and winning the event by five feet. Jon also had a breakout day in his two other specialties, the Shot Put and Discus. Jon scored three points for the Hawks in the Shot Put with a personal best heave of 41' 4.25” and two points in the discus with a toss of 118' 5”, also a personal best.
“The Pornelos brothers certainly showed up to compete today,” said Throws Coach Tom Conley. “They're breaking records and setting personal bests left and right. I think there's a little bit of sibling rivalry that fuels this barrage of excellent performances and I couldn't be happier about it.”
Freshman thrower, Andrew Mirabito (Bay Shore, N.Y.), also had a great day, setting two personal bests in the Hammer Throw and Shot Put with marks of 91'7” and 33'6.5”, respectively.
At the 100 Meter Dash, Eric Patnode (East Longmeadow, Mass.) placed fourth with a time of 11.5 while Justin Davis (Ashland, Mass.) took fourth in the 400 Meter Dash, coming in with a time of 52.63.
Steven Carnevale (Easton, Mass.) came in second in 800 Meter Run with a personal best of 2:01.5. Also coming away with a runner-up finish was Andrew Gallant (Merrimac, Mass.) in the 5K Run, clocking in at 16:49.5.
Thomas Maybury (East Longmeadow, Mass.) placed third in the 1500 Meter Run with a time of 4:16.02, while Jeff Pini (Wellesley, Mass.) was fourth in the in the 5K Run in 17:06.
The Hawks also had remarkable showings in the relay events as the 4x100 Relay team tied the school record with a time of 45.34, good for third place. In addition, the 4x400 Relay team broke the school record with a time of 3:34.01, taking second place.
“This team is a talented, young group and I think they are starting to realize how good they can be,” said Head Coach Sean Livingston. “One of the goals over the next three meets is to get more athletes qualified for both the New England and ECAC Championships.”
Roger Williams next competes at the Spring Invitational, hosted by MIT.
