NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Sacred Heart University men's track and field team ranks third after the opening day of the 2023 Northeast Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships, hosted by Merrimack College in North Andover, Mass. 

The Pioneers tallied two wins and a second-place finish on their way to 37 points on the day. SHU sits six points shy of second-place Central Connecticut and are two points up on fourth-place Saint Francis (Pa.). 

Cameron Croce tallied one of the Pios wins this afternoon, taking the hammer throw with a mark of 57.59m. The graduate student continued his dominant stretch in the event, as he bested his closest competitor by 3.93m. Daniel Blatman also finished in the points in the event, placing sixth with a personal-record toss of 50.16m.

The Pios did a fantastic job in the high jump finals, taking the top-two spots and having three in the top 10. Owen Nassaney led the way for SHU by winning the event by clearing 2.02m. Nazir Hibbert was next in second place after tying a PR of 1.95m. Benjamin Healy rounded out the SHU contingent in the event in 10th after clearing 1.74m.

Nassaney also led the Pios in the long jump by placing fifth with a PR of 7.10m. He bested teammate Healy, who took 10th after tying a personal record of 6.56m.

Aidan Glennon paced the Pioneers in the shot put by finishing 11th after a throw of 13.68m.

The Pioneers took seventh place in the 4x800m relay race with a time of 8:14.41. Patrick Curreri, Shane Negast, James Moore, and Ryan Scappaticci formed Sacred Heart's team in the event. 

The trio of Rafael Mahario, Jonathan Mahon, and Joseph Morrone led the way for SHU among their qualifiers for tomorrow's finals. Mahario, Mahon, and Morrone all earned places in the 400 meters tomorrow. In addition, Jordan Leon placed sixth today to qualify for the 1,500-meter finals. 

Day two of the outdoor NEC Championships is set to begin tomorrow at 9:30 a.m.