Jacques and Houlihan Lead Men at Bonnie Edmondson

Worcester, MA- In the final meet and last chance to qualify, the Worcester State Outdoor Track and Field team headed down to Eastern Connecticut for the Bonnie Edmondson Classic. The Men, who have been reaching peak toward the tail end of the season, at just the right moment, continued that success today against some competitive competition.

Success would start early for Worcester on the track as sophomore Seth Boudreau would claim third in the 100m, hitting a time of 11.10 seconds. He would lead the Lancer field of seven, edging out first years Kevin O'Brien, 13th in 11.80 seconds, Nolan Clarke (Mansfield, MA), 16th in 12.01 seconds, Pius Baidoo (Worcester, MA) 15th on 11.95 seconds, Makarios Kitenda (Lowell, MA) in 30th on 12.68 seconds, and juniors Giovanni Casiano (Oxford, MA), who finished in 19th on a 12.19 and Nicholas Violette (Worcester, MA) in 23rd on 12.45 seconds. Keeping the spring speed alive in 200m was junior Brodie Jacques (Rehoboth, MA) who claimed first on 22.39 seconds, ahead of O'Brien in 12th at 24.03, Violette in 17th at 24.90 and senior Anthony Paolucci (Billerica, MA) in 28th in a time of 26.83.

The relay teams were on speed display around the track this afternoon as the 4x100 teams grabbed third and fourth on the day. The team led by Boudreau, Baidoo, Clarke and Jacques would snag third in a time of 44.28, just edging out fellow teammates Casiano, first year Jax Christman (Lancaster, MA), Violette and O'Brien, who finished in fourth in a time of 46.42. The 4x400m team, made up of  sophomore Alan Gomez (Clinton, MA), junior Brian O'Leary (Marlborough, MA), first year Jacksen Bolduc (Auburn, MA) and senior Matt Talbot (Belchertown, MA) would finish in fifth in a time of 3:50.98.

Paolucci would up his speed and his distance for the 400m where he would come away with 13th in a time of 62.68 while fellow sprinter Alan Gomez would cross in seventh in a time of 56.13. Doubling that distance would be Bolduc who would claim 19th in the 800m with a time of 2:10.78, just crossing before O'Leary in 22nd in a time of 2:15.90.

Not to be outdone in the distance game, Talbot would go nearly full spring for 1,500m, crossing in sixth in a time of 4:28.59. Teammate sophomore Andrew Stokes (Wilmington, MA), would cross in 22nd in time of 5:06.80. Fellow Sophomore Alex Matsuyasu (Newton, MA) would go for the full distance, claiming 12th in the 5,000m in a time of 18:58.65.

Jacques would walk away with his second first place finish of the day, this time in the long jump where he reached 6.48m, just edging out Boudreau who fell to second on a 6.31m leap.Casiano would finish in 10th in the event with a 5.63m, two spots ahead of Violette in 12th on a 5.28m landing. Christman would have continued success on the day in the triple jump as he finished in fifth with a mark of 10.57m.

Things would not settle down for the men in the throwing circle as first year Garrett Papierski (Webster, MA) would finish in second with an 11.82m measurement in the shot put pit, landing just ahead of junior Max O'Connor (Dedham, MA) who would claim fourth on an 11.68m mark. Papierski would continue his success in the Hammer with an 8th place finish on 34.28m, this time being edged out by O'Connor for sixth as he landed at 36.57m. Claiming the big prize in the Hammer Throw though was senior Jack Houlihan who went deep in the field on a 43.24m mark for first place. Fellow senior Matthew Long (East Bridgewater, MA) would finish in 9th at 33.32m ahead of first year Daniel Butler (Tyngsboro, MA) in 12th at 30.19m. Houlihan would repeat as champion again, this time in the discus, were he reached a 39.30m mark, but right behind Houlihan was O'Connor in second with a 39.12m and sophomore Harley Phillipe (Lowell, MA) would round out the top three in the event with a 39.05m measurement. Butler would claim 8th in the event on a 32.42m just ahead of Papierski in his third event in the day for 10th on a 30.79m.

With the final qualifying marks in, the Lancers now turn their focus to the MASCAC Championships that are next Friday, April 26th, at Westfield State.