Worcester State College Men’s Track and Field Highlights

Elmer Swanson Invitational at Wesleyan University- 4/12/08

The Worcester State Men’s Track and Field Team traveled to Wesleyan University in Connecticut and was surprised by a warm sunny day with just a few isolated showers and variable winds instead of poor meet conditions that were expected. The end result was a number of season best performances and more championship meet qualifiers. Leading the way was junior captain Mark Johnson who placed in three events and the     4 x 100m relay.  Mark was second in the 200m dash with a time of 22.47, a season best and D3 New England & ECAC qualifier. He placed 4^th in the 400m in 50.54 and was second in the javelin with a toss of 179’11” for a personal best and D3 New England & ECAC qualifier in the throwing event. He also joined teammates Pius Oyelohunnu, Bill Fitzgerald, and Nate Starling on the anchor for the 4 x 100m relay with a season best 43.53 and D3 New England & ECAC and All Division New England qualifier.  In addition to the relay, Starling had success in two individual events. He ran 15.62 in the 110 high hurdles for third place and a qualifier in the D3 New England & ECAC and All Division New Englands. He also placed 3rd in the 100m dash with an 11.47 in that event. Fitzgerald started his day with the pole vault and a personal record of 11’1.75” and then had season bests in the 100m and 200m races. Pius Oyelohunnu was not to be outdone. He finished ran 11.94 in the 100m for 8^th place overall and 23.47 in the 200m for 7^th place.  Both times were personal records for Oyelohunnu. He finished the day with a personal best time in the 400m (leg 3) on the  4 x 400 m relay that finished in 4th place. The Lancers also had four winners at the meet and a fifth was the first collegian in his event. Junior Chris Mancuso won the 800m in a personal best time of 1:58.91 in the mid distance event.  Senior Justin Snair ran 10:13.86 in the 3000m steeplechase to qualify for the D3 New England Championships.  Junior Forest Wilber won the 5000m in 16:02.05 and was followed by teammate Rob Lind in 16:13.03 for second place. Freshman Cam Herzog won the Javelin with a personal best throw and D3 New England & ECAC qualifier throwing 180’9’ in the event. He also finished 4th in the high jump at 5’10.75 in the vertical leap. Jim Macera was third overall, but was the first collegian in the hammer throw with a toss of 138’6” in the throwing event.