Morena Finishes 9th in 5,000 at New Englands
BOSTON, Mass. – Bentley University graduate student Steve Maffiolini (Southington, Conn./ Southington HS) was one of eight to qualify for Saturday's finals in the 500 meters during the first day of the 48th annual New England (NEICAAA) Indoor Track Championships Friday afternoon at Boston University's Track and Tennis Center.
Maffiolini was fourth among the 29 runners, trailing only Northeastern's Paul Duffey, Rhode Island's Marlon Montague and Central Connecticut's Richard Grudzwick. His time of 1:05.40 was fourth best in program history and improved on his personal record by 1.44 seconds.
In addition to Maffiolini, Saturday's finals will include five Division I athletes, along with Southern Connecticut's Christian DeSanctis and Fitchburg State's Chauncey Beatty.
Bentley had three of the top 15 finishers in the men's 5,000, a list headed by sophomore Ryan Cadorette (Saco, Maine/Thornton Academy) who was 11th of 31 in 14:58.44. Seamus Higgins (Randolph, N.J./Randolph HS) followed in 12th after winning the unseeded heat in 15:07.17, a PR by 10 seconds, and junior Erik Alatalo (Wilmington/Wilmington HS) took 15th in 15:15.63. Higgins' performance moved him to 11th on the Falcons' all-time list.
Junior Tim Bolick (Hopkinton/Hopkinton HS) took ninth among 29 runners in the 1000 meters with his time of 2:29.21 a PR by 1.77 seconds and eighth best in program history.
In the 800, Bentley senior Sean Nee (West Yarmouth/Dennis-Yarmouth Reg. HS) bettered his PR by a full second while finishing 15th of 31 in 1:53.73.
On the women's side, junior Julia Morena (Boylston/Tahanto Regional HS) had the best Division II finish in the 5,000, placing ninth of 32 overall in 17:57.80. That improved on her previous best by 10.39 seconds.
Sophomore Marianne Bartolotta (Wantagh, N.Y./Holy Trinity HS) nearly matched the PR in the 1000 she set at last week's Northeast-10 Championships, placing 25th of 30 in 3:07.44.
The New Englands will continue on Saturday with the Falcon men scheduled to compete in three events, beginning with the mile at 11 am.