FITCHBURG, Mass. – The Bridgewater State University men's outdoor track & field team captured the program's fifth straight Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) championship on Saturday at the Elliot Athletic Complex on the campus of Fitchburg State University.

The MASCAC outdoor title marked the eighth in team history as Bridgewater also won outdoor conference championships in 1996, 2012, 2013, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022. The Bears tallied 249 points in the team scoring to easily outdistance runner-up Westfield State University (126 pts.).

Bridgewater placed first in eight events.

Sophomores Kevin McBirney (East Bridgewater, Mass.) and Chigozie Adigwe (Lowell, Mass.) each claimed a pair of MASCAC individual titles. McBirney captured top honors in both the 1,500-meter run (4:02.49) and the 800-meter run (2:01.12), while Adigwe paced first in the 110-meter hurdles (15.15) as well as the 400-meter hurdles (56.98).

The Bears' 4x100-meter relay squad featuring junior Michael Young (Shrewsbury, Mass.), sophomore Nathan Candido (Taunton, Mass.), senior Mason Matias (New Bedford, Mass.) and graduate student Jacob DeAndrade (Taunton, Mass.) won the event with a time of 43.02 seconds.

Seniors Jack Galvin (Braintree, Mass.) and Corey Stalters (Norton, Mass.), and junior Thomas Barinelli (Tewksbury, Mass.) rounded out the Bears' MASCAC Champion performers.

Galvin placed first in the shot put with a collegiate-best toss of 45 feet, eight inches (13.92m). Stalters posted the top throw in the javelin with a distance of 190 feet, six inches (58.06m). Barinelli outleaped the field in the high jump with a mark of six feet, 2.75 inches (1.90m).

Barinelli was the Bears' top scorer at the meet with 26 team points. He also placed second in the long jump (22'2.5"/6.77m) and 110-meter hurdles (15.32).

Adigwe, McBirney and Stalters checked in with 20 team points apiece while DeAndrade and freshman Michael Neitlich (Middleboro, Mass.) notched 16 points. Stalters added a second-place performance in the shot put (45'5.75"/13.86m) and finished fifth in the discus throw (132'6"/40.40m). DeAndrade placed second in both the 100-meter dash (11.02) and 200-meter dash (22.25), while Neitlich finished second in the 400-meter hurdles (57.03) and 400-meter dash (51.42).

Next weekend, qualifying members of the BSU men's outdoor track & field team will compete at the Division III New England Championships hosted by Springfield College.