<html dir="ltr">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=Windows-1252">
<style id="owaParaStyle" type="text/css">P {
MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px
}
P {
MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px
}
</style>
</head>
<body fPStyle="1" ocsi="0">
<div style="direction: ltr;font-family: Tahoma;color: #000000;font-size: 10pt;">
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Times New Roman"><strong>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
</strong>– February 12, 2012</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Times New Roman">Contact – John Carchedi (401) 865 1245</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Times New Roman"></font> </p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Times New Roman"></font> </p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><font size="5" face="Times New Roman"><strong>Matthews Leads Charge at Valentine Invitational</strong></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="4"><strong>Senior sizzles through mile; Men’s Track gears for BIG EAST with strong outing</strong>.
</font></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Times New Roman"></font> </p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Times New Roman"></font> </p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"><strong>BOSTON, MASS.</strong> – With just one week to go before the BIG EAST Championships, the Providence College men’s track and field team capitalized on a final
tune up with several key performances at the Valentine Invitational. </font></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Times New Roman"></font> </p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Times New Roman">Senior Julian Matthews (Nelson, New Zealand) stormed through the mile in a time of 3:59.34, just .77 of a second off his personal best. The All-American’s effort Saturday
easily surpassed the BIG EAST and IC4A qualifying standards, and ranks as one of the top ten times in the nation this season.
</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Times New Roman"></font> </p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Times New Roman">Also running well in the mile was freshman Shane Quinn (Waterford, Ireland), who continued his strong debut as a Friar with a 4:05.68. That performance shattered the BIG
EAST and IC4A standards. </font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Times New Roman"></font> </p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Times New Roman">Senior Lee Carey (Bedworth, England) finished the 3000-meters with a posting of 8:21.00, and like Matthews and Quinn, qualified for the two post-season meets. Teammate Jonathan
Hopkins (Bridgend, Wales) was close behind with an IC4A worthy 8:26.85</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Times New Roman"></font> </p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">Providence earned another BIG EAST qualifier in the sprints, as sophomore Gerry Briand (Bernardsville, N.J.) turned in a 200-meter time of 22.67, two-tenths of a second
faster than the conference mark. This will mark his first trip to the league championships.
</font></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Times New Roman"></font> </p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Times New Roman">Meanwhile, classmate Nik Andrews (Clarksburg, Mass.) earned a return to the conference meet with a 400-meter posting of 49.63.
</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Times New Roman"></font> </p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Times New Roman">Two other Friars flirting with a berth at the BIG EAST were freshman Phelan McCormack (Pearl River, N.Y.), who completed the 1000-meters in 2:31.10, and junior Nik Rebovich
(New Hartford, N.Y.) who cruised through the 800 in 1:56.85.</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Times New Roman"></font> </p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">In the 5000-meters, junior Eric Malnatti (Walpole, N.H.) finished in 14:47.75, a mere .61 of a second shy of conference qualifying.
<span> </span></font></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Times New Roman"></font> </p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Times New Roman">The Friars now prepare for that BIG EAST Championship. This year, the event will begin Saturday, February 18 at the Armory in New York, New York.
</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"><span> </span><span> </span></font></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Times New Roman">- Go Friars -
</font></p>
<div>
<p> </p>
<div style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: 13px">
<div style="MARGIN: 0pt"><font size="2" face="Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt">John Carchedi<br>
Athletic Media Relations</span></font></div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0pt"><font size="2" face="Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Providence College
<br>
1 Cunningham Square</span></font></div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0pt"><font size="2" face="Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Providence, RI 02918</span></font></div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0pt"><font size="2" face="Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt"> jcarched@friars.providence.edu</span></font></div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0pt"><font size="2" face="Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt">401-865-1245 (o)</span></font></div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0pt"><font size="2" face="Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt">617-276-6893 (c)</span></font>
<div>
<div style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: 13px"></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: 13px">
<div style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: 13px"></div>
</div>
</div>
<font size="3" face="Times New Roman"></font></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>