Massasoit Track Sheds Off Time At Fitchburg State

FITCHBURG, Mass. ---- In just the second-ever meet for the Massasoit Community College Track program, the Warriors placed a runner in the top-10, tallied points and saw great time improvements at the Fitchburg State Invitational last Saturday.

"Overall I think everyone improved, not only in their times but also their confidence levels were leaps and bounds ahead of the first meet," head coach Ben Warnick said. "In the first meet, I think we were a bit timid, but everyone was much more settled down this time around."

Kerry O'Neil (Stoughton) placed sixth overall in the 5,000-meter race, finishing with a time of 22:28.71 and collecting the first ever points (3) in program lore on the women's side. Her time bested her previous finish by nearly 10 seconds.

Joining O'Neil for the women, included Christasha Young-Lemar (Brockton) and Stephanie Villanueva (Whitman), who both competed in the 100-meter dash. Young-Lemar finished 20^th overall in 15:33, while Villanueva placed 24^th at 17:35. In addition, Young-Lemar won here heat, marking a first for a Massasoit track competitor.

For the men, the trio of Dewayne Hammonds (Brockton), Adam Blanchette (Brockton) and Jai Williams (Rockland) each raced in separate events.

Blanchette lined up in the 100-meter, finishing in 14:23, good for 38^th place and knocked nearly one second off his first meet time.

Hammonds transitioned from the 5,000-meter race in his first collegiate meet to the 1,500-meter. He recorded a time of 5:09.81, ranking 37^th.

Williams enjoyed the journey of the 5,000-meter race to the tune of an 18^th place finish in 22:14.09.

"Seeing improvement in times and in effort is all you can ask for as a coach," Warnick said. "We just need to keep grinding at practice and the times will get quicker. It's all about the process and the journey."

Massasoit concludes its first season at Regis College this Sunday.