McPherson Leads Men's Track & Field at NEICAAA Championships

EASTON, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University men's track and field team scored 16 points and placed 14th at the New England Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association (NEICAAA) Championships hosted by Stonehill College. The multi-day event concluded on Saturday.

Senior Michael McPherson (Mansfield, Mass.) placed third in the shot put with a season-best mark of 55 feet, 6.25 inches (16.92 meters) as he earned All-NEICAAA honors. As of Saturday night that ranks him 12th nationally.

Junior Stephan Cawley (Dedham, Mass.) placed 14th in the shot with a toss of 48 feet, 2.50 inches (14.69 meters), while sophomore Christian Lavoie (Marion, Mass.) placed 19th with a mark of 45 feet, three inches (13.79 meters).

The Bears' 4x400 relay team of senior Andrew Corley (Milton, Mass.), freshman Kevin Sawyer (Woburn, Mass.) and sophomores Ian Knapton (Mattapoisett, Mass.), and Christopher Naughton (Braintree, Mass.) broke the school record and qualified for the ECAC Championships with a time of 3:23.16. They eclipsed the previous mark of 3:24.50 set just week.

Lavoie and Cawley also competed in the discus, placing tenth and 16th, respectively. Lavoie posted a mark of 136 feet, four inches (41.56 meters), while Cawley recorded a distance of 131 feet, nine inches (40.15 meters).

The 4x800 relay team of junior Sean Spillane (Middleboro, Mass.), senior Stephen Wahome (Lowell, Mass.) and sophomores Dallas O'Brien (Mansfield, Mass.) and John Breault (Dartmouth, Mass.) placed 19th with a time of 8:06.93.

The Bears tied for 14th place in the overall standings with 16 points. Southern Connecticut State won the men's team title with 159 points followed by host Stonehill in second place (66 pts.) and Northeastern in third (62.50 pts.).