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            BOSTON -- Junior Ben Manning (Jericho, Vt./Mt. Mansfield Union) set a school record in the 800 meters en route to provisionally qualifying for the NCAA Division III national championships next month to highlight the University of Southern Maine men's indoor track and field team's performance at the first day of the 2011 New England Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association Championships being staged at Boston University's Track and Tennis Center.

            The Huskies' distance medley relay combination of sophomore Seth Neuts (Portland, Maine/Deering), seniors Corey Gobbi (Haverhill, Mass.) and George Foster (Lewiston, Maine) and junior Tim Even (Stoneham, Maine/Fryeburg Academy) also provisionally qualified for the NCAA meet and scored the Huskies' lone point of the first day finishing in eighth place.

            Manning covered the 800 meters in a time of 1 minute, 53.97 seconds to meet the NCAA provisional standard of 1:54.30, and break the previous school record of 1:54.31 set by Even at the same event in 2009.

            The distance medley relay quartet posted a time of 10:03.46 to meet the provisional qualifying standard of 10:06.00, and was less than two seconds off the school record time set last year.

            Senior John Davis (Westbrook, Maine) matched his season-best mark in the pole vault clearing 4.45 meters (14 feet, 7 1/4 inches) to finish in 13th place.

            Competition continues on Saturday (10:00 a.m.).

-ble-