EDISON, N.J. — For just the second time in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), the Pioneers have swept the athlete of the week awards. On the men's side, senior Rafael Mahario was named track athlete of the week, and first-year Tyler Durang was named field athlete of the week. On the women's side, first-year Sierra Thompson was named track athlete of the week, and Magdelana Brogioli was named field athlete of the week.

Senior Rafael Mahario had a big day in the UConn Northeast Challenge on Saturday.  He ran a new seasonal best in the 400 meters of 47.35 seconds, and assumed the MAAC lead in the event in the process.  His time easily surpassed the IC4A qualifying standard of 49.04.  Later in the day, the senior captain joined forces with teammates Colin Brown, Connor Meikle and Lance Hayes to win the 4 x 400 relay and smash the existing SHU record in the event.  Mahario led off the relay with a 47.5 second split, as the quartet recorded a finish time of 3:10.61 seconds. Not only did the Mahario-led relay beat the old SHU standard of 3:13.07, but they also took over the MAAC lead by more than four seconds.

First-year thrower Tyler Durang recorded a new personal best in the discus throw on Friday in the UConn Northeast Challenge to take over the MAAC lead in the event by nearly two meters.  The rookie beat his old personal best by nearly three meters as he flung the disc 48.23 meters (158' 3").  He also punched his ticket to the IC4A's in a second event, as he easily surpassed that championship's qualifying standard of 46.00 meters.  On Saturday at UConn, Durang came back to record the second best hammer throw mark of his young career, placing 4th with a toss of 54.69 meters (179' 5").  He topped the IC4A standard of 52.00 meters in the event for the fourth time in four tries this season.  Durang's best hammer mark of 55.26 meters (181' 3") currently has him sitting third in the MAAC standings.

First-year Sierra Thompson competed in the heptathlon in the UConn Northeast Challenge on Friday and Saturday, placing third with a score of 4796 points.  Two of the rookie's performances in track events were particularly noteworthy, as she recorded personal bests in both the 200 meters and 100 meter hurdles.  Thompson's clocking of 24.53 seconds in the 200 meters moved her to the top of the MAAC rankings for the event.  Her new best in the 100 meter hurdles of 14.60 seconds ranks her third in the MAAC.  Both times also easily qualified Thompson for the ECAC's later in May, as she beat the championship's standards of 24.99 seconds and 14.99 seconds, respectively.

Magdalena Brogioli competed in the heptathlon in the UConn Northeast Challenge on Friday and Saturday.  She finished second with a score of 5026 points to crack the 5000 point barrier for the first time.  She won the high jump and 100 meter hurdles and placed second in the long jump and javelin during the multi-event competition.  The junior captain's high jump clearance of 1.68 meters (5' 6") equaled her MAAC list leading mark, and surpassed the ECAC qualifying standard of 1.66 meters.  More importantly her MAAC leading heptathlon score ranks her 24th in the entire NCAA East Region.