5 Little East Participants In 2012 NCAA Men's Indoor Field

NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. -- The NCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Committee announced the participants for the 2012 NCAA Division III Men’s Indoor Track and Field Championship that will be hosted this weekend (March 9-10) at Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa. The national selection committee invited the top-13 declared student-athletes per individual event into the national meet, while accepting the top-10 relay teams.

The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth sophomore Chris Perry (Providence, R.I.) and freshman Phito Gondre (New Bedford, Mass.) will represent the Corsairs in the national field, while University of Southern Maine senior Ben Manning (Jericho, Vt.) and sophomore Julian Gazzelloni (Windham, Maine) advanced to the NCAA Division III Championship. Rhode Island College will be represented by sophomore Craig Amado (Providence, R.I.).

Gondre will be making his debut at the NCAA Division III Men’s Indoor Track and Field Championship, competing in the 60-meter dash. The freshman from New Bedford, Mass. is ranked third in the nation according to the latest edition of the Division III performance list. Gondre posted his fastest time of his rookie campaign at the Boston University Terrier Classic on Jan. 28, 2012, when he tripped the timer at 6.84 seconds in the trials. Gondre also established a new conference record in the 55-meter dash (6.46) at the Little East Championships at Southern Maine on Feb. 11, 2012. He will compete in the trials of the 60-meter dash at 7:25 p.m. on Friday, March 9 with the finals scheduled the following evening at 5:35 p.m.

Perry is making his second straight appearance in the national field after qualifying for the triple jump event as a first-year. In his sophomore campaign, the Providence, R.I. product will also compete in the long jump.  Perry established a new UMass Dartmouth record and posted the fifth longest leap in the nation in the long jump, when he covered 7.30 meters to win the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III title this past weekend. The long jump competition is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. on Friday evening. Perry also earned a berth in the triple jump field after recording the seventh longest leap in Division III. He registered his best effort in the triple jump at the New England Division III Championships, when Perry placed fourth with a leap of 14.87 meters. Perry will participate in the triple jump at 11 a.m. on Saturday morning.

Gazzelloni, who is seeded 13th in the event, earned his entry after running a Huskies’ school-record time of 4 minutes, 11.45 seconds in the mile at the NEIcAAA (New England Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association) New England Championship on February 25, 2012. The sophomore from Windham, Maine broke the previous record of 4 minutes, 14.92 second set by former Southern Maine standout Darryl Whitney in 2003. The preliminary heat of the mile event is scheduled at 5 p.m. on Friday, March 9 with the championships set for the following afternoon at 3:30 p.m.

Seeded seventh in the 800-meter run, Manning punched his ticket to the NCAA championship with his record setting time of one minute, 52.07 seconds at the NEIcAAA Championships. The senior from Jericho, Vt. used the fastest time in Southern Maine history in the 800-meter run improved his ranking on the NCAA performance list. The preliminary heat for the 800-meter run is tabbed for 6:45 p.m. on Friday, March 9. If Manning advances to the final, he will hit the track at 4:55 p.m. the following afternoon.

Amado is making his second consecutive appearance at the NCAA Division III Men’s Indoor Track & Field Championships in the triple jump event. The sophomore from Providence, R.I. is currently seeded ninth in the national field after covering 14.86 meters at the New England Open Championships. Amado will join Perry in the triple jump event at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 10.  

Formed in 1986, the Little East serves as New England's premier athletic conference for public institutions in NCAA Division III.  Featuring 19 championship sports, the Little East sponsors quality competition in every season for our student athletes.  Our eight state colleges and universities dedicate themselves to an ongoing fulfillment of the Division III mission of passion, responsibility, sportsmanship, and citizenship.

(Information for this release was obtained from Southern Maine)