Fitchburg State Battles At DIII New England’s

Kibler sets program record in 1500m run with time of 3:56.30

MEDFORD, Mass. (May 2, 2010) – Members of the Fitchburg State men’s and women’s track team competed in the DIII New England Championships this past weekend hosted by Tufts University.

On the men’s side, Fitchburg State earned a solid 11th place finish at the event as sophomore Chris Kibler (Bath, Maine/Morse) set a new a school record in the 1500m run. Kibler eclipsed the 3:56.40 mark set by Greg DeMeo 29 years ago with a blistering pace of 3:56.30 for a ninth place finish.

Sophomore Mike Iasevoli (Ayer, Mass./Ayer) was also strong on the track, earning two-seventh place finishes in the 100m (11.11) and 200m dash (22.31) while also qualifying for the ECAC’s and All-New England’s with personal bests in both events. Senior Kyle Schaeffer (Hudson, Mass./Hudson) excelled on the distance side of the meet, placing 12th overall in the 10000m run with a time of 33:26.67, while junior Kyle Callahan (Stoneham, Mass./Stoneham) rounded out the top Falcon runners with a personal best time of 56.60 in the 400m hurdles (9th).

The Falcons 4x100 relay team of Jennings, Callahan, Iasevoli, and De La Rosa qualified for the All-New England’s and ECAC’s, earning second place honors with an effort of 42.34, while the 4x400 relay team (Petersen, Jennings, DiNuccio,  and Iasevoli) finished tenth overall with a time of 3:29.26.

In the field, senior Devon Jennings (Brockton, Mass./Brockton) continued his pursuit of the long-jump, finishing among the top in Division III, with a distance of 6.52m while junior Carlos De La Rosa (Holyoke, Mass./Holyoke) finished 13th in the triple jump with a distance of 12.90m.

Junior Matt Muolo (Stoneham, Mass./Stoneham) led all Fitchburg State throwers, notching the best individual performance of the day. The third-year thrower collected top honors in the discus with a strong throw of 47.90m, while following it up with a 11th place effort in the javelin (53.18m). Sophomore Donald Trinque (Ayer, Mass./Ayer) notched the Falcons best javelin throw on the day however, finishing fifth overall with a heave of 56.78m.

On the ladies side, sophomore Madeline Merchant (Gardner, Mass./Monty Tech) collected the best female performance, finishing among the elite DIII runners in the 100m and 200m. Merchant chalked up a fourth place finish in the 100m (12.53) and a ninth place finish in the 200m (25.87), while qualifying for the All-New England’s and ECAC’s in both events. The second year standout rounded out the day in the field, notching a 4.68 long jump and a strong 11.01m triple jump.

Fitchburg State also receive some strong efforts from its freshman class as rookies Shanissa Sampson (Marlborough, Mass./Marlborough) and Emily Lane (Clinton, Conn./The Morgan School) cracked the top ten in their respective events. Sampson turned in the best field performance of the day with a fifth place, 36.34m javelin effort, while Lane placed tenth in the high jump with a height of 1.53m.

Members of the Fitchburg State track and field team will be in action next weekend they compete in the ECAC Championships starting on Friday afternoon.