HOOKSETT, N.H. – Junior Cooper O'Neil (Millbury, Mass.), freshman Cam Lee (Northwood, N.H.) and the Plymouth State University men's 4x400-meter relay squad all posted wins as the Panthers opened the outdoor track & field season at the SNHU Spring Open at Mark A. Ouellette Stadium on Thursday.
 
Lee topped the field in the 400-meter hurdles in a school-record time, while O'Neil edged out junior Ben Colby (Manchester, N.H.) to claim victory in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Senior Zach Hodge (Springfield, N.H.), sophomore Isaias Aguasvivas Pena (Marblehead, Mass.), senior Luke Cloutier (Limerick, Maine) and junior Connor Phillips (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) joined forces to win the 4x400-meter relay, and PSU's 4x100-meter relay narrowly missed a school record by 0.20 seconds.
 
The meet was non-scoring.
 
 
The Basics:

• SNHU Spring Open – No Team Scoring

Meet Highlights:

• Lee demolished the 400-meter hurdles record by 1.85 seconds to win the event. Junior Shea McLaughlin (Byfield, Mass.) placed third in 1:00.72, just ahead of sophomore CJ Lytle (Merrimack, N.H.), who finished fourth in 1:01.06.
• O'Neil won the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 10:33.67, with Colby placing second in 10:35.45.
• Hodge, Aguasvivas Pena, Cloutier and Phillips teamed up to win the 4x400-meter relay in 3:32.87.
• Sophomore Ty Shipmon (Yonkers, N.Y.), freshmen Khalid Vicks (Kingston, Mass.) and Griffin Massahos (Londonderry, N.H.), and sophomore Gabe Kean (Thornton, N.H.) approached the program record in the 4x100-meter relay. The foursome crossed the line in 43.34 seconds, just 0.20 seconds off the mark.
• Hodge placed third in the 400 meters in 51.41 seconds, while Aguasvivas Pena clocked a 53.60 to place sixth.
• McLaughlin was fourth in the 110-meter hurdles in 15.79 seconds.
• Massahos led a trio of Panthers in the 200 meters, finishing fourth in 22.35 seconds. Kean edged out Lee by 0.008 seconds to finish ninth in 23.04.
• Senior Max Goodman (South Salem, N.Y.) clocked a 15:54.61 in the 5,000-meter invitational to place eighth.
• Massahos finished ninth in the 100 meters in 11.12 seconds, just 0.05 seconds shy of the school record.
• Shipmon placed eighth in the long jump with a distance of 6.12 meters.
• In the throws, freshman Enzo Valenti (Montville, Conn.) qualified first in the shot put with a heave of 12.29 meters before placing eighth in the finals (11.77). He was fifth in the discus finals with a throw of 41.51 meters and also reached 36.43 meters in the hammer throw.
• Freshman Owen Arias (Madison, N.H.) was fourth in the shot put qualifying round with a throw of 11.59 meters and placed ninth in the hammer throw qualifying round (36.05).
• Freshman Parker Wood (Alton, N.H.) qualified fifth in the discus with a throw of 36.44 meters and sixth in the shot put (11.28 meters).
• Senior Austin Cornish (Milan, N.H.) placed seventh in the javelin with a throw of 43.61 meters.

 
Up Next:

• Plymouth State heads to the University of New Hampshire for the Jim Boulanger Invitational a week from Saturday (Apr. 4).