Fitchburg State Opens At Jay Carisella Invitational

Falcons use 21 points off the bench to collect second victory of the season

BOSTON, Mass. (December 5, 2009) - The Fitchburg State men's and women's indoor track team opened their 2009-10 season this afternoon competing in the first annual Jay Carisella Invitational hosted by Northeastern University.

Junior Matt Muolo (Stoneham, Mass./Stoneham) paced the Fitchburg State men's squad, qualifying for two Division III Championships in just the first meet of the year. Muolo threw 13.54 meters (45-5.25) in shot-put and 14.84 meters (48-8.25) in the 35 pound weight. Also qualifying for the DIII's was senior captain Brandon Jean (Dunstable, Mass./Dunstable) who threw a distance of 13.30 meters (43-7.25)

On the track side, senior Denard Mondesir (Brockton, Mass./Brockton) qualified for the Division III Championships in the 55m hurdles, posting a personal best time of  8.24 seconds. Senior Kyle Schaeffer (Hudson, Mass./Hudson) also ran strong for the Falcons in the 300 with a time of 9:01.11, while sophomore Chris Kibler (Bath, Maine/Morse) just missed the 5000m DIII's at 15:46.59.

Freshmen Will Lary (Winchendon, Mass./Murdock)  and Matt Claar (Orono, Maine/Orono) opened their collegiate track career with solid performances, posting a times of 2:44.62 in the 1000m and 1:11.76 in the 500m respectively. Sophomore Jimmy Petersen (Groton, Conn./Fitch) rounded out the Falcon top runners with a 52.56 in the 400m.

On the women's side, sophomore Madeline Merchant (Gardner, Mass./Monty Tech) stole the show for the ladies with two DIII qualifies and a pair of top 20 performances. Merchant qualified in the 55m dash with a time of 7.79, while also notching a DIII performance in the 200m with a time of 27.90. Merchant was solid in the field as well, notching a 20th place showing in the long jump (4.62m) and 14th place finish in the triple jumped (9.55m).

Junior Julie Almstrom (Auburn, Mass./Auburn) missed a Division III qualifying time by only .01 seconds in the 55 hurdles running a 9.62, while freshman Emily Lane (Clinton, Conn./The Morgan School) ran a 9.73. Lane also competed in the high-jump in her first college track outing, jumping 1.47 meters along with veteran Erin Abbott (Warwick, Mass./Pioneer Valley).

For the throwers, freshmen Shanissa Sampson (Marlborough, Mass./Marlborough) and Megan Gonzales (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood) led Fitchburg State, posting solid finishes in the shot put. Sampson turned in a Falcon best 22nd place showing with a toss of 9.55m, while Gonzales finished 25th with a throw of 9.32m. Senior captain Lindsay Suprenant (Feeding Hills, Mass./Agawam) paced the Falcons in the weight throw, tossing 10.45m for a 22nd place showing.     

Fitchburg State will be back in action next Saturday as it travels to Harvard for a meet starting at 10 a.m.