Five IC4A Qualifications Highlight Men's Track and Field at VCU Quad-Meet

Chris Parsons Leads Three Qualifiers in Shot

03/29/04 6:39PM

RICHMOND, VA - Senior Chris Parsons (Dunkirk, MD) won the shot to lead three IC4A qualifiers in the event, and five overall, as defending CAA Champion William and Mary men's track and field competed Sunday at Virginia Commonwealth's Quad-Meet which included runners from Richmond, Radford, VCU and the Tribe.

Parsons fronted another strong showing from the College's throwing corps as the Green and Gold swept the top-three positions in the shot with all three qualifying for the IC4A Outdoor Championships in the process. Parsons threw for a winning distance of 52'8.25" with junior Aaron Mitchell (Buffalo, NY) claiming second with a season-best mark of 52'6.5". Freshman Steven Huntzinger (Fairfax, VA) impressed for his first IC4A qualification with a third-place, personal-record effort of 51'11", while junior Nick Hecker-Thompson (Seattle, WA) took fifth with a throw of 46'11.75". The squad also had a solid effort in the hammer as Parsons earned another IC4A qualification with his second-place throw of 174'3" while Mitchell claimed third with a mark of 160'0", tieing his personal best. Complete results from the discus were not available at this time of this release, but Huntzinger won the event with an IC4A qualifying distance in the 154-foot range.

The Tribe enjoyed a solid day of sprinting from sophomore Justin Benabdallah (Natick, MA) who won the 200m with a personal record time of 22.41. He also claimed fourth in the 100m with a career-best pace of 11.17. Sophomore James Hipolit (Lititz, PA) won the 400m hurdles with a personal record 56.42. Senior Aaron Spicer (Woodbridge, VA) took fourth in the 400m, running a 56.62.

Spicer went on to win the pole vault by clearing a height of 13'5.25", ahead of runner-up freshman Justin Zamorski (Virginia Beach, VA) who cleared 12'11.5". Fellow freshman Charles Fritschner (Auburn, AL) posted a height of 12'5.5" for fourth.
In the middle distance ranks, the Tribe captured three of the top-six positions in the 800m with junior Robert Pitts (Washington, DC) leading the charge by running a season-best time of 1:58.35 for third place. Senior Scott Ickes (Rochester, NY) finished right behind in fourth with a 1:58.77 while junior Bill Tarantino (Woodbridge, VA) took sixth with a 2:00.52.

In the long jump, sophomore Noah Gabriel-Landis (Underhill, VT) claimed fifth by leaping to 20'8.5" while Benabdallah took sixth with a mark of 20'2".

Men's track and field returns to action this weekend with split squads. The team will contest the Duke Invitational on April 2nd and compete at the Liberty Invitational on April 3rd.