Men's Track & Field Captures MASCAC Indoor Title

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – The Bridgewater State University men's track & field team captured its fifth straight conference indoor title and seventh in the last 11 tries on Saturday at the 2024 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Indoor Track & Field Championships held at Smith College.

Bridgewater State amassed 263 team points as the Bears outdistanced second place Westfield State University (139 pts.) by a wide margin. Fitchburg State University rounded out the top three teams with 99 points.

The Bears captured 11 individual MASCAC championships as well as a pair of conference relay titles.

Senior Thomas Barinelli (Tewksbury, Mass.) won three individual MASCAC titles and finished with a meet-best 30 team points. Barinelli captured top honors and hit indoor personal bests in both the high jump (6'4.75"/1.95m) and long jump (22'11.75"/7.60m). He also recorded a finals time of 8.68 seconds to win the 60-meter hurdles.

Junior Kevin McBirney (East Bridgewater, Mass.) and freshman Jordan Rivera-Silva (Attleboro, Mass.) also won multiple conference individual titles for the Bears. McBirney was the first to cross the finish line in both the mile (4:34.94) and the 800-meter run (2:01.39) while Rivera-Silva placed first in the 200-meter dash (22.66) as well as the 400-meter dash (50.35). Rivera-Silva PR'd in both events.

Graduate Corey Stalters (Norton, Mass.), senior Jason Dann (Reading, Mass.) and sophomores Kyle Ackroyd (Charlestown, R.I.) and Michael Neitlich (Middleboro, Mass.) rounded out the Bears' individual MASCAC champions with Stalters, Ackroyd and Neitlich all recording personal best marks in their respective events. Stalters won the shot put (52'2"/15.90M) while Dann placed first in the weight throw (53'7.5"/16.34m), Ackroyd was the first  to cross the line in the 5,000-meter run (15:54.59), and Neitlich grabbed top accolades in the 600-meter run (1:23.88).

Neitlich, juniors Stephen Spofford (Chelmsford, Mass.) and Charles Dakai (Millville, Mass.), and sophomore Nicholas Grace (Acushnet, Mass.) teamed up for the MASCAC title in the 4x400-meter relay (3:32.25).

The foursome of Dakai, Rivera-Silva, graduate Mason Matias (New Bedford, Mass.) and senior Michael Young (Shrewsbury, Mass.) posted a season-best time of 1:32.22 to earn the conference title in the 4x200-meter relay.

The Bears are back in action on Sunday, February 18th when they travel to Harvard University for the USATF New England Indoor Championship.