Nine Bears Garner All-New England Honors at DIII New Englands

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Nine members of the Bridgewater State University men's indoor track & field team garnered All-New England honors at the 2015 Division III New England Championships held this weekend at the Springfield College.

The Bears placed fifth in the team standings with 55 points. MIT captured the team title with 129 points followed by Bates College (73 pts), Williams College (71 pts) and the University of Southern Maine (67 pts).

Senior Chinedu Chukwu (Randolph, Mass.) broke his own school record and placed second in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.88 seconds.  Chukwu eclipsed his previous standard of 6.92 seconds set last weekend at the MASCAC/New England Alliance Championships. He currently ranks seventh in all of Division III in the 60.

Junior Conor Murtagh (Walpole, Mass.) also bettered his own BSU program mark in the 60-meter hurdles as he placed second in the event with a time of 7.99 seconds.  Murtagh broke his previous record of 8.04 seconds set a week ago at the MASCAC/Alliance Championships. He presently ranks third in all of Division III in the hurdles.

Also earning All-New England accolades for the Bears were seniors Josh Goehring (Haverhill, Mass.), Andy Sukeforth (Middleboro, Mass.), Chris Perry (Attleboro, Mass.) and Brian Espinosa (Rehoboth, Mass.), juniors Andrew Couture (Dighton, Mass.) and Kevin Sawyer (Woburn, Mass.), and freshman Cameron Williamson (Easton, Mass.).

Goehring placed second in the 600-meter run (1:21.92), while Sukeforth was the second runner to cross the line in the 1,000-meter run (2:31.34). Perry and Espinosa placed third (22'5.25"/6.84m) and fifth (22'2.50"/6.77m), respectively, in the long jump.

Couture added a fourth place showing in the 60-meter dash (7.06), while Sawyer finished sixth in the 600-meter run (1:24.51) and Williamson fourth in the triple jump (45'4.25"/13.82m).

Next weekend, qualifying members of the BSU men's track & field team will compete at the New England Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association (NEICAAA) Championships hosted by Boston University.