Begley Eclipses Javelin Mark At Bridgewater State Invitational

Bridgewater, MA --- Junior Matthew Begley (E. Bridgewater, MA) placed second in the javelin, broke the school record and qualified for the postseason in two events as he helped propel the Worcester State men's outdoor track and field team at the Bridgewater State Invitational.

The Lancers opened their spring season at the site of next month's MASCAC/Alliance Outdoor Championships.

Begley had a heave of 186-6 (56.85m) which was just one foot longer than current assistant coach and former All-New England standout Mark Johnson's toss at the Worcester City meet in 2009. Begley qualified for the ECAC's in the javelin and the Division III New England Championships with fourth place in the shot put (44-10.50/13.68m).

Senior Jon Parrella (Wilmington, MA) also qualified for the DIII New England's in the 400 meter hurdles (58.29) as junior decathlete Jason Sliwoski (Leicester, MA) put up a pair of Division III New England standards with fifth in both the 110 hurdles (16.50) and the javelin (173-1/52.77m) before he finished sixth in the discus (126-0/38.42m) and 15th in the 200 (24.26).

Fourth-year Andrew Garcia (Brea, CA) was the runner-up in the pole vault (12-3.50/3.75m) while the 4x100 meter relay team of junior Duy Truong (Worcester, MA/Doherty), senior Luke Curtis (Dudley, MA), sophomore Stephen Gannon (Foxboro, MA) and Matthew Alley (Milford, MA) teamed for second overall (43.90).

Curtis qualified for the Division III New England's with sixth in the 100 (11.31) as Alley and Gannon placed 11th (11.45) and 17th (11.81), respectively. Gannon tallied 11th in the 200 (23.90) before Truong finished sixth in the 110 meter hurdles (16.60).

In the field, senior Brett Pronovost (N. Andover, MA) was seventh in the hammer (127-3/38.79m) and classmate Sebastian Bilentschuk (Mansfield, MA) wasn't too far behind in ninth (127-0/38.43m).

First-year Al Mandragouras (Newbury, MA) opened his spring with fifth in the discus (126-0/38.42m), freshman Dana Perry (Mendon, MA) had a leap of eighth in the triple jump (39-4.75/12.01m), sophomore Mario De Jesus (Lawrence, MA) chalked up ninth in the javelin (159-9/48.69m) and second-year Robert White (Ludlow, MA) rounded out the competitors with 10th in the shot put (39-3.50/11.98m).

Next week the Lancers head to Medford to compete at the Tufts Invitational.