CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Roger Williams University Men's Track & Field team had an impressive showing at the New England Championships, coming in 20th place highlighted by a win in the Decathlon by Thomas Bove (Port Jefferson, N.Y.).
Bove claimed the first win ever for the program in the Decathlon with a score of 6,183, besting his own school record of 6,136 by 47 points. The freshman athlete earns All-New England honors and currently ranks 10th in the country with his score.
"He was ranked second going into the New England meet and came through big-time," said Assistant Coach Sean Livingston.
"Bove showed great pose and maturity during his competition. Being a New England champion is a great accomplishment and to do it as a freshman is amazing," said Head Coach Tamera Rocha. "Thomas put in a lot of hard work and is an extremely talented young man and has a bright future ahead of him."
Junior Steven Carnevale (Easton, Mass.) smashed his school record in the 800 Meter Run with a time of 1:52.99, earning a seventh-place finish, qualifying for the ECAC Championships, and earning All-New England Honors. His time currently ranks him 27th in the country.
"That was a tremendous race for Steve," said Livingston. "He ran against some top-flight competition and came up with a big-time performance.
Freshman Jack Dunleavy (Orange, Conn.) ran a time of 33:18.13 in the 10,000 Meter Run, good for 23rd place and setting a personal best. His time is only 16 seconds short of the school record.
"Jack ran another fantastic negative split race, with his second 5K being faster than his first," said Livingston. "This was only his second time running this event, so I know he's got the potential to really improve on his time over the next three years."
In the jumps, senior Austin Bobrow (Rocky Hill, Conn.) closed out his senior year with another strong showing in the Triple Jump. He placed 15th with a jump of 13.02 m (43' 8.75").
"Austin had a solid jump day today jumping over 13 meters again," said Rocha. "Austin is a great athlete and a great leader on the team. Closing out his collegiate career with a jump of over 13 meters is a great way to end his season. His presence will truly be missed next year."
In the Discus Throw, Emil Pornelos (Hartford, Vt.) finished with a throw of 133' 8" (44.64m) to place 11th in the event, falling just shy of making the finals.
"I couldn't be more pleased with how things went," said Livingston. "A few athletes just missed getting All-New honors, but even in those cases, they ran big PRs. To have several athletes be ranked in the top-10 in New England and a couple more ranked in the top-30 nationally exemplifies the kind of improvement of the Men's' and Women's Track & Field program that both Coach Rocha and myself hoped for."
The Hawks look to make one last push for NCAA berths at the ECAC Championships in two weeks.
