SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- Junior Liam Byrne surged into sixth place on the Bates all-time performance list in the discus, highlighting the Open New England Championships for the men's outdoor track and field team Friday and Saturday on the campus of Bryant University. 

On his final throw of the event, Byrne (Ridgefield, Conn.) tossed the discus a personal record 165-02 (50.34m) on Saturday, good for fifth place out of 22 competitors and All-New England honors. The throw landed him ahead of Ethan Waldman '11 (162-10, 7th) and just behind Rich McNeil '10 (166-6, 5th) on the Bates men's track and field all-time performance list. 

Senior captain Liam Evans (Sauquoit, N.Y.) also scored points for the Bobcats at Open New Englands, finishing in seventh place in the decathlon with 5,878 points. Among the decathletes, he took second in the javelin (165-7), second in the pole vault (14-1.25), third in the discus (102-5), and fourth in the 1,500 meters (4:45.37).

Elsewhere, senior John Mieszczanski (Chelmsford, Mass.) achieved a personal record in the 1,500 meters, racing to the finish in 3:56.19. The 4x100 relay team of senior Garrett Evans (Sauquoit, N.Y.), first-year Kevin O'Connor (Milford, Mass.), first-year Truman Williams (Montclair, N.J.), and sophomore Colby Stakun-Pickering (Wellesley, Mass.) achieved a season-best time of 42.91 seconds. Stakun-Pickering also ran a personal best (non-wind-aided) time of 22.56 seconds in the 200-meter dash.

Overall, Bates placed in a tie for 29th out of 40 scoring teams from all NCAA Divisions at the meet.

Bates track and field athletes have one more chance to qualify for the NCAA Division III Championships when the Bobcats travel to Cambridge for the MIT Final Qualifying Meet this Thursday.