Dave Geringer                                                    Athletic Department            (508) 990-9651

Sports Information Director                             Tripp Athletic Center           dgeringer@umassd.edu

CORSAIRS SECOND, FIFTH AT SOUTHERN MAINE INVITATIONAL
                                                                                                                        Saturday, January 28, 2006

GORHAM, ME-The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s indoor track and field team performed well at their third meet of the fall semester Saturday.

The men finished second out of five teams, while the women were fifth of six teams at the Southern Maine Invitational at USM’s Costello Sports Complex.

UMass Dartmouth’s men finished with 140 points, seven more than the host Huskies. Bates won the meet with 200 points. The Corsair women finished with 48 points, 10 points behind Emmanuel and eight ahead of Rhode Island College. Host USM won the women’s meet with 216 points.

On the men’s side, junior Jon Garcia (Stoneham, MA/Stoneham HS) won at 200 meters (23.21 seconds) and in the 55-meter hurdles (7.78). He was second in the long jump at 20 feet, 10 ½ inches, and ran a 51 second split to bring the 4 x 400 meter relay team back into contention (they finished second in 3:34.62). Freshman Jimmy Knuuttila (Lunenburg, MA/Lunenburg HS) was second at 55 meters in 6.78 seconds, third at 200 meters in 23.89 and was fifth in the triple jump (38-4). Senior Clayton Gullatt (Gardner, MA/Gardner HS) was second in the high jump at 6-2 and fourth in the triple jump at 38-5, junior Brian Vatcher (Stoneham, MA/Stoneham HS) had a personal best in the mile at 4:27.76, and freshman Matt Bonelli (Danvers, MA/Bishop Fenwick HS) was second in the triple jump at 39 feet, 2 ½ inches.

For the women, freshman Teresa McGrath (Saugus, MA/Saugus HS) finished third in the shot put at 35 feet, sophomore Katie Malloy (Agawam, MA/Agawam HS) finished first in the high jump at five feet, and sophomore Leanne Nygaard (Medway, MA/Medway HS) finished fourth at 800 meters in 2:29.07.

”It was a good day, especially for the men, who scored 24 points in the last event, the triple jump,” said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Jon Hird. “Jon Garcia had a good day, as did Jimmy Knuuttila, Clayton Gullatt, Brian Vatcher and Matt Bonelli. For the women, our top performers were Teresa McGrath, Katie Malloy and Leanne Nygaard.”

The Corsairs will return to action at the Tufts Invitational next Saturday.

UMASS DARTMOUTH TRACK AND FIELD