WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Suffolk men's outdoor track & field had a standout showing at the NCAA Division III New England Championships over the weekend at Lee Track on the campus of Williams College.
Four student-athletes competed across five events with three garnering All-New England honors from the New England DIII Cross Country and Track & Field Association for their top-eight finishes. The unit of Rams combined for 14 points, good for 16th in the 31-team field, the best showing by the blue-and-gold at the regional meet, upstaging the program's 31st-place performance in its first and last showing in 2019.
Thomas Novy became the first Ram to compete in two events as he put together times in a pair of long-distance events, the 10k and 5k. The Simsbury, Connecticut product picked up all-region status in the 10,000 with a personal-record time of 312:57.64, which was good for the middle of the 12-runner pack in. In the 5k, he crossed the line in 15:29.31 to take 14th.
Michael Balestra etched his name in the Rams record book for the second time as he became the first Suffolk student-athlete to collect multiple all-region outdoor honors in their career. He was the first-ever blue-and-gold student-athlete to pick up the All-New England accolade as he did so in 2019 in the hammer throw. As a senior this season, the Lincoln, Rhode Island, native produced a podium finish in the same event with a 53.18-meter heave.
Brady Sorensen rounded out Suffolk's student-athletes with all-region accolades. A Plymouth, Massachusetts product jumped his way to the distinction with a 6.95-meter long jump. That personal and program record put him just off the podium in fourth in the 18-participant field. Sorensen was the first Rams' jumper to compete at New Englands in program history and earned his place to compete at NEICAAA Championships next weekend with his performance.
Cole Bolduc joined Novy and Sorensen as a first-time regional competitor. The junior from Blackstone, Massachusetts recorded a 51.45 in the 400.
Suffolk's spring season continues next weekend, May 13-14, at the NEICAAA Championships at Jess Dow Field in New Haven, Connecticut.