Westfield State Reclaims MASCAC Indoor Track and Field Championship Crown

The Westfield State Owls reclaim their title as conference champions at the 2014 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championship Saturday over last year’s winner Bridgewater State at the University of Southern Maine as part of the 2014 New England Alliance Championships.

February 15, 2014

Final Team Scores

1	Westfield State	170
2	Bridgewater State	157
3	Worcester State	150
4	Fitchburg State	102

GORHAM, Maine – The Westfield State Owls reclaim their title as conference champions at the 2014 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championship Saturday over last year's winner Bridgewater State at the University of Southern Maine as part of the 2014 New England Alliance Championships.

Earning their seventh conference title in the last eight years, the Owls finished with 170 team points, followed by Bridgewater State with 157 points. Worcester State and Fitchburg State rounded out the MASCAC finishers with 150 and 102 points, respectively.

Using a balanced roster to earn their seventh crown, Matt Moussamih took top honors in the 800 meters (2:00.11) for the Owls before earning another medal in the 4x800 meter relay (8:24.34) with teammates Tevin Cintron, Colin Morse and Kenneth Parece. Westfield State placed an athlete in the top three in nine of the 16 individual events.

Bridgewater State took home six individual titles, including dual repeat titles for Brian Espinosa in both the 200 meter dash (22.20) and long jump (22-01.75/6.75m). While teammate Josh Goehring added two of his own in the 600 meter run (1:21.83) and 1,000 meter run (2:35.41). Joshua Danner-Hicks repeated as conference champion in the triple jump (46-02.50/14.08) while Christian Lavoie nabbed a medal in the shot put (47-04.50/14.44m). The quartet of Espinosa, Danner-Hicks, Andrew Couture and Timothy Judge claimed the 4x200 relay title (1:31.54).

Worcester State claimed five individual titles on their way to a third place finish. Terrence Gibson crossed the line first in the 55 meter dash (6.39) and broke his own conference record in the 55 meter hurdles (7.56). Stephen Gannon finished first in the 400 meter dash (50.48) while David Germain had the top leap in the high jump (6-06.25/1.99m) and Matt Begley finished first in the weight throw (50-00.50/15.25m). Gannon along with teammates Ramses Rafael, Jared Barros and Todd Paquin earned the top spot in the 4x400 meter relay (3:26.71), breaking a conference record previously held by Worcester State.

Helping to earn Fitchburg State four individual crowns, Chris Kibler crossed the line first in both the mile run (4:29.59) and 5,000 meters (15:46.55) on his way to setting a new conference record in the 5,000. Brian Amaral finished first in the 3,000 meters (8:59.81) while Patryk Backiel earned a first place finish in the pole vault (14-07.25/4.45m).

UMass Dartmouth finished first in the New England Alliance Championship, which combines competition from both the MASCAC and Little East Conference. Bridgewater State was the top MASCAC finisher in second place with 111 points.