WENHAM, Mass. – The Roger Williams University Men's Track and Field team came away with a victory at Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship meet at Gordon on Saturday. The win marks the fifth straight Conference Championship for the team since its inception as a varsity sport. Numerous personal bests were set throughout the day to pace the Hawks to their title.
Senior Emil Pornelos (Hartford, Vt.) led the charge for the Hawks in the field placing first in the Discus with a throw of 44.1 meters, qualifying him for the ECAC Championships. Pornelous also took first in the Shot Put and Hammer Throw, tossing 13.7 and 43.5 meters respectively. Chad O'Neil (Shrewsbury, Mass.) rounded off the throwers' success finishing first for the Hawks in the Javelin with a personal best of 40.9 meters.
Zach Mays (Pawtucket, R.I.) added to the Hawks' efforts in the field with a second-place effort in the Long Jump, posting a new personal best of 5.9 meters. Mays added to his day by winning the 100 Meter Dash in a time of 11.6. Adam Watts (Orange, Conn.) also finished in first with a personal best performance in the high jump clearing a height of 5'5''.
On the track, sophomore Matthew Duggan (Waldwick, N.J.) came away with a first-place performance in the 3000 Meter Steeplechase, setting a new personal best by an impressive ten seconds with a time of 10:48. Justin Davis (Ashland, Mass.) also had a strong showing in the 200 Meter Dash finishing first in a season-best time of 23.88, and runner up in the 400 in 52.6.
John Ferguson (Bethel, Conn.) came away with a victory in the 5000 Meter race, posting a new personal best of 15:49.9. Jack Dunleavy (Orange, Conn.) followed in second place, while freshman Chris Busby (Merrimack, N.H.) rounded out the top-three, each setting personal bests of 16:05.8 and 16:23.3 respectively.
Senior Steven Carnevale (Easton, Mass.) finished first in the 400 Meter event lowering his personal best time to 50.7, while teammate Doug Sasso (Watertown, Conn.) posted a victory in the 1500 running 4:15.7.
In the 800 Meter race, Ben Lane (Groveland, Mass.) came away with the win in a time of 2:03.04, while teammate Dan Herbein (York, Maine) followed in a close second finishing with a personal best of 2:03.5. Freshman John Christopher (Amherst, N.H.) rounded out the top three posting a time of 2:06.6.
Tim Clarkin (Coventry, R.I.) left the track with two wins on the day in both the 110 and 400 meter hurdle events. Clarkin also lowered his personal best in the 400 hurdles with a time of 58.9.
Assistant Coach Sean Livingston summed up the day, "I am very proud and impressed with everyone's effort and performances today. There were some fantastic individual performances for both teams. One of the goals going into this meet is to have as many personal bests as possible and many accomplished that. It was a great way to end the 2013 regular season"
The Hawks now gear up for the upcoming championship meets and will be sending six athletes to the NCAA DIII New England Championships hosted by Colby College this Saturday.
