League Titles, School Records Highlight GNAC Championships for Pride

BOSTON, Mass. ­– The Regis College men's and women's track and field team won three individual league titles, broke four school records, and added two qualifiers to the Division III New England Championships as the Pride competed in the 2020 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships Sunday at Boston University's Track and Tennis Center.

Nicholas Pastore (Norwood, Mass.) led the Pride with two GNAC titles, starting with one of the first events of the day, the long jump. After earning three more jumps by finishing in the top seven after three attempts, he surpassed six meters on all three passes, including a school record leap of 6.29 meters (20' 7.75") to win the event by 0.11 meters.

In the 60 meter dash, Pastore finished second in the preliminaries at 7.31 seconds, and then he raced down the track in 7.23 seconds to win the final in a very close contest in which the top four competitors were separated by just 6/100ths of a second. Pastore also finished seventh in both the 200 meter dash in 23.57 seconds and in the triple jump with a top mark of 11.15 meters (36' 7").

Olivia Juneau (Wakefield, Mass.) claimed the other GNAC title with a first place finish in the 400 meter dash, setting a new school record and qualifying for the New England Championships with a time of 1:00.66. Juneau also finished seventh in the 60 meter hurdles finals after qualifying with a personal best time of 10.08 seconds.

Just as in the past two GNAC Outdoor Championships, the Pride were strong in the throwing events, led by Cole Anderson (Falmouth, Maine) and Elisabeth Cooke (East Longmeadow, Mass.). On his first attempt in the weight throw, Anderson broke the Regis record with a toss of 15.31 meters (50' 2.75"), finishing second in the event and qualifying for the New England Championships.

Cooke finished second in the women's weight throw after posting a mark of 12.05 meters (39' 6.5"), plus she ended up fourth in the shot put with a top throw of 10.40 meters (34' 1.5"). Allie Sanidas (Ipswich, Mass.) finished sixth in both the weight throw at 10.63 meters (34' 10.5") and in the shot put at 10.12 meters (33' 2.5"), personal bests in both events as she broke the 10-meter barrier.

Mark Dumas (Brooklyn, Conn.) finished fifth in the men's weight throw with a top mark of 12.03 meters (39' 5.75"). Dumas earned another fifth place finish in the men's shot put at 12.16 meters (39' 10.75"), followed by Anderson in sixth place with a top throw of 12.03 meters (39' 5.75").

JJ Pedersen (Milford, Conn.) now holds four individual indoor school records after setting the new standard in the one mile run at 4:37.90, finishing third in the event. He also anchored the distance medley relay, joining with Nicholas Sahagian (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), Noah Ryan (Stockton, Calif.), and Michael Carroll (Lynn, Mass.) to help the Pride finish fifth in the event at 11:48.76.

Emily Fagundo (Dover, N.H.) finished in second place in the women's long jump with a personal best mark of 4.92 meters (16' 1.75"). Fagundo also posted a personal best in the preliminaries of the 60 meter dash of 8.37 seconds to qualify for the finals, where she crossed the finish line fourth in 8.43 seconds.

Brett Kiesel (Rocky Hill, Conn.) showed his versatility, as he finished fourth in the 200 meter dash in 23.40 seconds, in the 400 meter dash with a time of 51.88 seconds, and in the pole vault after clearing 2.80 meters (9' 2.25"), establishing a new school record in the process. He also cleared 1.60 meters (5' 3") to finish seventh in the high jump, and he anchored the 4x400 meter relay, joining with AJ Corso (Broad Brook, Conn.), Jacob O'Neal (New Britain, Conn.), and Ben O'Neal (New Britain, Conn.) to help the Pride finish third in 3:42.77.

Earlier in the meet, Corso finished fifth in the men's 800 meter run with a time of 2:06.40. As a team, the Regis men finished in fourth place with 61 points. Suffolk University rallied to win the GNAC team title with 119 points after finishing first in both relays, with Saint Joseph's College ending up in second place with 116 points.

Other scoring results for the women included a fifth place finish by Ashleigh Kelley (Stoneham, Mass.) in the one mile run in 5:32.21 and a sixth place finish for Maddie Boucias (Buckland, Mass.) in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:32.51. The distance medley relay quartet of Erin Kelley (Stoneham, Mass.), Desiree Jones (Oceanside, Calif.), Lizzy Melvin (Southington, Conn.), and Ashleigh Kelley finished in fourth place in 14:28.91, capping a fourth place finish for the Pride women with 47 points as Emmanuel College cruised to the team title with 174 points, 60 points in front of second place Suffolk.

The Division III New England Championships are scheduled to take place Feb. 28-29, with the men's event hosted by Springfield College and the women's meet taking place at Middlebury College.