Fitchburg State Continues To Roll At MIT Invitational

Falcons combine for seven post-season honors

BOSTON, Mass. (January 23, 2010) - The Fitchburg State men's and women's track teams were in action this afternoon as the Falcons visited MIT for the Engineers' Coed Invitational.

On the men's side, the Falcons witnessed five post-season, qualifying marks as senior Kyle Callahan (Stoneham, Mass./Stoneham), junior Carlos De La Rosa (Holyoke, Mass./Holyoke), classmate Matt Muolo (Stoneham, Mass./Stoneham), the 4x400m relay team and the 4x800m relay team registered DIII and ECAC Championship scores.

Callahan bettered his DIII qualifying mark in the high-jump with a first place height of 6-1.25 feet, while De La Rosa qualified in the long jump with a distance of 21-2 (3rd). Muolo stole the lone ECAC qualifier with a second place finish in the weight throw (51-2), while the 4x800 relay team of sophomore Chris Kibler (Bath, Maine/Morse), senior Kyle Schaeffer (Hudson, Mass./Hudson), freshman Will Lary (Winchendon, Mass./Murdock) and junior Matt Spano (Gardner, Mass./Gardner) collected a third place finish and a trip to the DIII's with a time of 8:45.37.

The Falcons 4x400m relay team wrapped the weekend post-season awards as Mike Iasevoli (Ayer, Mass./Ayer), Matt Claar (Orono, Maine/Orono), Devon Jennings (Brockton, Mass./Brockton) and Jimmy Petersen (Groton, Conn./Fitch) finished second overall with a time of 3:35.32.

Rounding out the Fitchburg State men individual performances was Jennings who posted three, top eight finishes by placing eighth in the 200m (23.78), sixth in the long-jump (20-2) and second in the 55m dash (6.70). Iasevoli was also solid on the track for the Falcons, posting a second place finish in the 200m (23.44) and fourth place showing in the 55m dash (23.44).

For the women, senior Lindsay Suprenant (Feeding Hills, Mass./Agawam) scored the lone individual DIII qualifying mark, finishing first in the weight throw with a personal best toss of 43-3. The Falcons 4x200m relay team also enjoyed a post-season day, as the team of Ali Landry (Bellingham, Mass./Bellingham), Erin Abbott (Warwick, Mass./Pioneer Valley), Kara Taupier (Somers, Conn./Somers) and Madeline Merchant (Gardner, Mass./Monty Tech) notched a first place finish with a time of 1:56.98.

Fitchburg State dominated in the weight throw portion of the day as the Falcons had five women throwers place within the top eight. Following Suprenant was freshman Shanissa Sampson (Marlborough, Mass./Marlborough) who finished second overall in the weight with a toss of 35-5.25, while Riley Sullivan (Somerset, Mass./Somerset) and Megan Gonzalez (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood) finished fifth and seventh respectively.

In addition to her 4x200 relay finish, Madeline Merchant was also strong individually, turning in a first place finish in the triple jump (31-11.5) and fourth place showing in the 55m dash (7.91). Freshman Emily Lane (Clinton, Conn./The Morgan School) also turned in a solid day for the Falcons, finishing fourth in the 55m hurdles (8.28) and third overall in the high-jump (1.50m).

The Fitchburg State men's and women's track team will be in action next weekend as it travels to Boston University on Friday and Saturday.