MT&F: Lasers break two school records and win one event at GNAC Indoor Championships

BOSTON, Mass. – The Lasell University men's indoor track and field team set two school records and posted 16 season-bests in 27 total performances Sunday, February 16, at the inaugural Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Indoor Championships at Boston University's Track and Tennis Center.

The Lasers placed fifth out of six schools after being predicted sixth in the pre-meet coaches poll. Suffolk University claimed the team title with 119 points, followed by Saint Joseph's College (Maine) with 116, Emmanuel College (80), Regis College (61), Lasell (48) and Colby-Sawyer College (40).

Sophomore Nick Gird (Billerica, Mass.) set one school record for Lasell, running the 60-meter dash in 7.28 seconds and placing third out of 16 runners. His time beat his own previous record-time of 7.37 seconds set in December. Freshman Ben Abely (Stonington, Conn.) tied a Lasell record in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.37 seconds, placing third out of 16 runners. He matched the school mark set by Ben Lane in 2017.

Other top Lasell performances came from freshmen Zach Kirsch (Winsted, Conn.) and Andrew Froio (Tewksbury, Mass.) and junior Jordan Robertson (Warsaw, N.Y.). Kirsch became a GNAC champion in the triple jump with a first-place leap among seven jumpers, posting a personal-best mark of 12.37 meters (40'7"). Froio placed second out of 19 throwers in the shot with a mark of 12.81 meters (42'0.5"), and Robertson was runner-up out of seven entries in the 60-meter high hurdles with a time of 9.87.

Five out of six Lasers posted their season-best times in the 60-meter dash. In addition to Gird, Abely placed fifth in a time of 7.34 seconds, a season-best; senior Malik Francis (Kingston, N.Y.) placed seventh in a season-best time of 7.55, with junior Ben Biello (North Dighton, Mass.) following right behind in eighth in 7.85. Sophomore James Falzone (Waltham, Mass.) and senior Massimo Cugno (Medford, Mass.) placed 10th and 11th, respectively, both with the times of 7.86 seconds, season-bests for both.

Abely was one of four Lasers who set season bests in the 200-meter dash. Francis placed ninth out of 16 entries with a time of 24.08 seconds; Falzone finished 10th in a time of 25.68 seconds, with Cugno following in 11th in a time of 25.93.

Lasell had two entries in the 400-meter dash. Biello placed 12th with a time of 55.45, a season-best, with junior David Jean (Malden, Mass.) following closely behind with a time of 56.64. Senior Matt Holden (Methuen, Mass.) was the only Laser entry in the 800-meter dash, placing sixth out of 14 runners with a season-best time of 2:07.60.

Junior Geralson Withrow (West Newbury, Mass.) placed eighth out of 16 entries in the 3000-meter dash in a time of 10:02.17. Senior Kevin Wallin (Billerica, Mass.) recorded a season-best time 6:24.54 in the mile run.

Kirsch competed in three jumping events, recording three season-bests. In addition to his win in the triple jump, he was fourth out of 12 entries in the high jump (1.65/5'5"), and ninth in the long jump (5.47/17'11.5"). Joining Kirsch in the high jump, Biello placed 11th (1.50/4'11").

Froio was one of five Lasell entries in the shot put. Junior Connor Johnson (Northfield, Mass.) placed eighth out of 19 with a mark of 11.13 meters (36'6.25"); senior Nick Defaranos (East Haven, Conn.) recorded a season-best, placing ninth (10.75/35'3.75"); freshman Ajay Ramsay (Dorchester, Mass.) placed 11th (10.47/34'4.25"); and classmate Richard Barlett (Oak Bluffs, Mass.) was 12th (9.44/17'7.5").

The Laser relay team of Francis, Falzone, Kirsch, and Jean finished with a season-best 3:53.17 in the 4x400 relay. The distance medley team of Holden, Robertson, Biello, and Withrow finished with a time of 11:57.08.

The Lasers will compete again next Sunday, February 23, at the USATF New England Indoor Championships at Harvard University.

Lasell's Zach Kirsch		Lasell's Jordan Robertson		Lasell's Nick Gird		Lasell's Andrew Froio		Lasell's Ben Abely

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