Men's Outdoor Track & Field Captures Third Straight New England Alliance Title

FITCHBURG Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University men's outdoor track & field team captured its third straight New England Alliance title on Saturday at the MASCAC/New England Alliance Championships hosted by Fitchburg State. 

The Bears recorded a team score of 163 point to finish ahead of second place University of Southern Maine (141.5 pts.) and Westfield State University (141.5 pts.)

Bridgewater State also placed second in the MASCAC standings with 199.5 points finishing behind conference champion Westfield State (219.5 pts.).

The Bears' relay squad of Joseph Danner-Hicks (Haverhill, Mass.), Andrew Couture (Dighton, Mass.), Brian Espinosa (Rehoboth, Mass.) and Chinedu Chukwu (Randolph, Mass.) won the Alliance/MASCAC title in the 4x100 with a time of 41.80. They rank 16th in all of Division III in the event.

Danner Hicks also captured the Alliance/MASCAC crown in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.77 seconds which ranks 17th in Division III. He was just 3/100 of a second off Espinosa's school-record time of 10.74 set earlier this season.

Espinosa claimed the Alliance/MASCAC individual championship in the 200-meter dash (22.14). He also won the MASCAC title and place second in the Alliance in the long jump (23'1.25"/7.04m).

Andy Sukeforth (Middlebor, Mass.) was also a multiple Alliance/MASCAC winner as he captured top honors in both the 1,500-meter run (3:58.53) and 5,000-meter run. (15:37.21)

Josh Goehring (Haverhill, Mass.) placed first in the 800-meter run (1:55.12) and finished third in the 400-meter dash (50.26). Goehring posted the top MASCAC time in the 400.

Rounding out the Bears' MASCAC Champions were Connor Foley (Foxborough, Mass.) in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (10:01.72), Kevin Sawyer (Woburn, Mass.) in the 400-meter hurdles (56.84) and Chris Perry (Attleboro, Mass.) in the triple jump (46'9.5"/14.26m). They each finished third in the Alliance results in their respective events.

Conor Murtagh (Walpole, Mass.) posted a time of 14.59 second to finish second in the finals of the 110-meter hurdles as he was just 3/100 of a second off his own school-record time of 14.56 set last season. Murtagh also ranks eighth in Division III in the hurdles.

The Bears' 4x400-meter relay squad of Goehring, Sawyer, Michael Kotleski (Great Barrington, Mass.) and Carlton Williamson (Easton, Mass.) placed third (second in the MASCAC) and eclipsed the school record with a time of 3:22.64. They surpassed the previous mark of 3:23.16 set in 2013.

Next week the Bears will compete at the two-day Division III New England Championships hosted by MIT.