Gioielli Takes Gold in Third Straight Meet; MTF Completes Joe Donahue Games

Junior Joseph Gioielli placed first in an event in his third straight meet to open the season as the Central Connecticut men's indoor track and field team competed in the Joe Donahue Games on Friday at the historic Reggie Lewis Center in Roxbury, MA.

OFFICIAL RESULTS

For the third time in as many weeks, Gioielli has stood on top of the podium after an event for the CCSU men's indoor track and field team. On Friday the junior once again claimed a first place finish in the 800 meter run topping a field of 38 runners with a time of 1:51.50.

The time of 1:51.50 bests his time of 1:54.47 in the 800 meter that he set in the season opener at the the Yale Collegiate Invitational two weeks prior, where he also took gold. Gioielli's other gold medal came last weekend at the 2016 Great Dane Classic where he bested the field contesting in the 1,000 meter run.

Freshman Edwin Alston also had an impressive finish for the Blue Devils at the Joe Donahue Games on Friday. The rookie posted a third place finish in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 8.24. Alston qualified for the finals heat by finishing within the top eight in the preliminary round after sprinting to a time of 8.28.

Alston was joined in the finals heat of the 60 meter hurdles by fellow classmate Quincy Sanchez. Sanchez crossed the finish line with a time of 8.41 in the finals to record an eighth place overall finish, but qualified in the preliminaries fifth with a personal best time of 8.33.

Freshman Richard Grudzwick clocked in a time of 1:06.56 in his collegiate debut in the 500 meter run for CCSU. His time was good for a ninth place overall finish out of 30 runners.

In the 3,000 meter run sophomore Brendan Callahan registered a time of 8:51.62 in his first time contesting in the event as a Blue Devil. The time earned him a tied for sixth place finish.

In the field events, freshman Amaziah Gadson recorded the best finish for the Blue Devils logging a fifth place finish in the high jump. The rookie leapt over to 1.93 meters (6' 4") on his first attempt to record the result.

Sophomore Mike Lang also competed in the high jump with Gadson and he also cleared 1.93 meters, but on his second attempt to record an eighth place overall finish. The clearance proved to be a new collegiate best height for Lang whose previous best was 1.89.

Lang continued to have an excellent showing at the meet on Friday recording another personal best in the long jump. He launched himself to 6.56 meters (21' 6.25"), beating his previous best mark of 6.48, to log an 11th place finish.

The CCSU men's indoor track and field team will be back in action next Saturday, January 30 at the John Thomas Terrier Classic. The meet will be held at the BU Track and Tennis Center in Boston, MA, home of also the New England Championships and IC4A Championships that the Blue Devils will compete in at the end of February and early March.