Men’s Track and Field Opens Outdoor Season at VCU Ram Invitational (Day 2)

Chris Parsons Qualifies for IC4As With Shot Victory

03/21/04 12:44AM

RICHMOND, VA - Senior Chris Parsons (Dunkirk, MD) qualified for the IC4A Outdoor Championships with his winning distance in the shot as defending CAA Champion William and Mary men’s track and field opened its outdoor season Friday on the final day of the Virginia Commonwealth University Ram Invitational. Held at Sports Backers Stadium in Richmond, the meet featured over a dozen area schools including Richmond, Towson, UMBC, Washington and Lee and host VCU.

The Green and Gold dominated the shot as the Tribe’s four throwers all finished in the top-six. Leading the way was Parsons who captured the win with an IC4A qualifying distance of 52’8.25”. Taking third was freshman Steven Huntzinger (Fairfax, VA) who threw for an impressive 50’10.75”, a career best by over three feet. Junior Aaron Mitchell (Buffalo, NY) claimed fourth with a throw of 50’10.25” as both he and Huntzinger were less than four inches from the IC4A mark. Rounding things out for the squad was Nick Hecker-Thompson (Seattle, WA) whose distance of 47’3.75” earned him sixth place.

Huntzinger continued his strong meet by leading the College in the discus, claiming runner-up honors with a throw of 141’5”. Hecker-Thompson claimed fifth in the event with his effort of 136’11” while Parsons took seventh with a 132’7”.

The Tribe enjoyed a strong afternoon on the track as well. Freshman Matt Warco (McMurray, PA) captured the win in the 800m on the strength of a personal-record time of 1:55.97. Sophomore James Hipolit (Lititz, PA) tied a career-best time (56.47) with his third-place performance in the 400m hurdles while sophomore Justin Benabdallah (Natick, MA) clocked a personal-record pace of 23.22 in the 200m.

Sophomore Noah Gabriel-Landis (Underhill, VT) leapt for a personal-best distance of 20’10.75” in the long jump to finish 11th while senior Aaron Spicer (Woodbridge, VA) took fifth in the pole vault by clearing 12’11.50”.

W&M is back in action next week at the Raleigh Relays on Friday, March 26th.