Fitchburg State Battles at New England Division III Championships

Ivanov propels Falcons with third place finish in the men's pentathlon

BOSTON, Mass. (February 21, 2009) - The Fitchburg State men's indoor track and field team registered an 18th place showing at the New England Division III Championships held at MIT this past weekend.

ALEX IVANOV

Junior Alex Ivanov (Carlisle, Mass./Concord-Carlisle) kicked things off for Fitchburg State with a strong third place finish in the men's pentathlon,  gathering 3386 points along the way. With his strong showing, Ivanov posted a new school record that narrowly missed the NCAA National qualifying standard of 3400 points.

 Ivanov racked up season best efforts in the first four events: 55M Hurdles (8.56), Long Jump (20-6.5), 16lb. Shot (34-2.75) and High Jump (6-00.5). Then, in a superbly deep and talented field where a slim 105 points separated 2nd through 10th place, Ivanov  clocked a time of 2:40.23 in the 1000M run, recording another season best time.

Classmate Devon Jennings (Boston, Mass./Brockton) was solid on the track for the Falcons, competing in three events. Jennings ignited the Falcons with a seventh place finish in the 55 meter dash with a time of 6.65 seconds, before tallying a 12th place showing in the 200 meter run with a time of 23.33. Jennings also propelled the Falcons 4x400 relay team to a tenth place finish overall, totaling a time of 3:30.25.

On the field side, sophomore Alex LeBlanc (Ashburnham, Mass./Oakmont) continued his dominance in the pole vault competition, finishing 7th overall with a height of 4.27 meters. Junior Brandon Jean (Dunstable, Mass./Dunstable) and sophomore Matt Muolo (Stoneham, Mass./Stoneham) pushed each other in the shot-put event, posting a ninth and tenth place finish respectively. Jean hurled the shot a distance of 13.27 meters, while Muolo tossed a respectable 12.97 meters.

Fitchburg State will be back in action next weekend as it participates in the ECAC Championships on Friday and Saturday afternoon.