Fitchburg State Opens New Year At Tufts Invitational

Ladies' 4x200m and Callahan lead Falcons with DIII qualifying marks

BOSTON, Mass. (January 16, 2010) - After a five week layoff, Fitchburg State was back in action this afternoon as the men's and women's indoor track team battled the Tuft's Winter Invitational hosted by Tufts University. The Falcons men's squad posted a fourth place finish with 65 points, while the women placed fifth overall with 37 points.

The ladies squad paved the way of post-season qualifying marks as 4x200m team of junior Erin Abbott (Warwick, Mass./Pioneer Valley), senior Kara Taupier (Somers, Conn./Somers), junior Ali Landry (Bellingham, Mass./Bellingham) and sophomore Madeline Merchant (Gardner, Mass./Monty Tech) earned DIII honors with a time of 1:57.49. Senior Kyle Callahan (Stoneham, Mass./Stoneham.) brought home the lone men's DIII qualifying mark, finishing second in the high jump with a height of 1.86 meters.

Among top performers for Fitchburg State was junior Matt Muolo (Stoneham, Mass./Stoneham) who turned in a pair of third place finishes in the weight throw and shot-put. The All-Conference candidate notched a 14.93 meter toss in the weight throw, while posting a 13.26 meter hurl in the shot-put. Senior Brandon Jean (Dunstable, Mass./Dunstable) was also solid in the field for the Falcons, notching a sixth place finish in the weight with a distance of 12.84 meters.

On the track, senior Devon Jennings (Brockton, Mass./Brockton) earned Fitchburg State's top finish of the day, placing third overall in the 55m dash with a time of 6.71 seconds. Classmate Denard Mondesir (Brockton, Mass./Brockton) and sophomore Peter Rowe (Taunton, Mass./Coyle Cassidy) were solid in the 55m hurdles, registering a back-to-back fifth and sixth place finish with times of 8.32 and 8.66 respectively.

In the women's field, senior captain Lindsay Suprenant (Feeding Hill, Mass./Agawam) shined, collecting a third place finish in the weight throw with a distance of 11.43 meters. Freshman Shanissa Sampson (Marlborough, Mass./Marlborough) added a sixth place showing in the shot-put (9.73 meters), while classmate Megan Gonzalez (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood) finished eighth with a throw of 9.56 meters.

Freshman Riley Sullivan (Somerset, Mass./Somerset) was among other highlighted Falcons turning in a personal best distance of 9.91 meters in the weight throw, while Merchant wrapped up the Falcon top performers with a sixth place finish in the triple jump (10.06 meters).

The Fitchburg State men's and women's track team will be in action next weekend as it travels to MIT on Saturday at 11 a.m.

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