KINGSTON, R.I. – Senior Steve Thompson earned bronze in the open 800m and anchored the silver medal 4x800m relay to lead the Saint Joseph's men's track and field squad to a sixth-place finish in a field of 10 teams at the two-day 2018 Atlantic 10 Indoor Track and Field Championships, held at the University of Rhode Island's Mackal Fieldhouse this weekend. Eight Hawks scored out of seven individual events, which included a 12-point, combined effort from the 500m sprinters, while SJU scored all three of its relays en route to 55 points on the weekend.
Thompson took home a third-place finish in the 800m finals on Sunday, clocking in with a time of 1:53.56; Thompson, who had timed in at 1:54.18 in Saturday's preliminaries to own the second seed entering the finals, edged out Fordham's Louis Santelli for the bronze medal and six points. Thompson has now medaled in the A-10's indoor 800m for three years in a row, winning gold in 2017 and claiming silver in 2016.
Thompson went on to run the second leg of SJU's second-place 4x800m relay on Sunday as senior Dan Ferraiolo, Thompson, junior Dylan Eddinger, and junior Rory Houston recorded SJU's season-best 4x800m relay time of 7:40.23 for eight points and the silver medal. The performance completes the trifecta of qualifying all three of SJU's relays for the upcoming IC4A Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Sophomore Zach Michon turned in a pair of individual scoring performances with fifth-place finishes in both the mile and 3000m within mere hours of one another on Sunday to earn eight points for the Crimson and Gray. Michon opened Sunday afternoon with a new collegiate-best mile time of 4:09.84, over two seconds faster from his previous PR, and went 8:27.03 for 3000m in just his second collegiate performance in the event.
Saint Joseph's advanced all three of its 500m racers to the event's finals on Sunday, as senior Kenny Evely (1:05.38), freshman Stephen McClellan (1:05.71), and sophomore Trae' Robinson (1:05.79 PR) went fourth, fifth, and sixth, respectively, to combine for 12 points. Evely (season-best 1:05.26), Robinson (1:06.02), and McClellan (1:06.55) had ranked second, sixth, and eighth, respectively, following Saturday's preliminaries heats.
Saint Joseph's advanced a pair of Hawks to the 1000m finals on Sunday, as Eddinger (2:30.88) and senior Dave Garton (2:34.20) went fifth and seventh, respectively, to combine for six points. Eddinger (2:29.79 PR) and Garton (2:30.77) had ranked third and sixth, respectively, following Saturday's preliminaries heats.
Senior David Henderson took home a fourth-place finish in the 400m finals (49.56) on Sunday. Henderson finished third in his section, but George Mason's Rico Gomez dropped the only sub-49.00 performance of the event - out of the second section - to take the title en route to bumping the second section's 1-3 finishers down. The senior's performance was good for five points for the Crimson and Gray. Henderson had timed in at 50.04 in Saturday's preliminaries to own the fourth seed entering the finals.
SJU's DMR of John Walker, Ferraiolo, Houston, and Collin Crilly (10:05.38) and 4x400m relay of Henderson, Robinson, McClellan, and Evely (3:21.15) both placed fourth, good for five points apiece for a combined 10 points.
Of note out of the non-scoring performances, Ferraiolo, who ran legs on a pair of scoring relays, just missed advancing to the 800m finals by .30 seconds, clocking in at 1:55.72 for ninth. Crilly (4:19.17), junior Justin Branco (4:19.34), and freshman Matthew Scarpill (4:19.94) went ninth, 10th, and 11th in the mile, respectively, while sophomore Colin Gallagher placed 14th in his first collegiate indoor 5000m (15:34.88). Sophomore David Bryant added 17th-place finishes in both the 60m (7.19) and 200m (23.16).
Of IC4A note, Thompson (800m), Michon (mile, 3000m), and SJU's DMR all met the IC4A standards in their events, but all own faster times from earlier in the season that will stand as seed times entering the upcoming IC4A Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Select Hawks will return to action at the Saturday Night Fastrack Last Chance Invitational this Saturday, February 24. The meet, to be held at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island, N.Y., will serve as a final opportunity for Hawks to either qualify for or improve their seed times for the upcoming IC4A Indoor Track and Field Championships, set for March 2-4 in Boston, Mass.
