|
Ben Crastnopol was one of three top-five finishers for Tufts in the 400
|
EASTON - The sprinters, jumpers and throwers on the Tufts men's track & field team assembled many solid performances to lead the Jumbos to a runner-up finish out of 11 teams at the Skyhawk Classic hosted by Stonehill College on Saturday.
Stonehill captured the team title with 216 points. In a distant second were the Jumbos with 131.5 points. Third-place Bridgewater State accumulated 109 points, while Boston College and Boston University rounded out the top five with 87 and 67.5 points, respectively.
With sunny skies, light wind and temperatures in the low 70s, it was great opportunity for all athletes to record impressive performances.
The Jumbos notched three victories, all of them in field events. Junior Gbola Ajayi (Lagos, Nigeria), in his first action since placing sixth in the triple jump at the indoor NCAA Championship, claimed victory in the event on Saturday with a leap of 46'0 1/2" (14.03m).
Likewise, classmate Brad Nakanishi (Scarborough, ME) won the pole vault with his clearance of 15'3" (4.65m). He was backed by sophomores Trevor Rothaus (Placentia, CA) and David Sutherland (Queenstown, MD), who placed third and fifth with clearances of 14'3 1/4" (4.35m) and 13'9 1/4" (4.20m), respectively.
Once again, the Jumbos were productive in the throwing events. Junior Curtis Yancy (St. Louis, MO) won the hammer throw with a toss of 167'4" (51.00m). He also was able to record a runner-up finish in the discuss with a heave of 149'8" (45.61m).
Backing Yancy in the hammer was senior co-captain Adam Aronson (Norwood, MA), whose toss of 154'2" (47.00m) was good enough for fifth. In the shot put, freshman Brian Williamson (Prairie Village, KS) took third with a throw of 48'7 1/4" (14.81m).
On the track, the Jumbos had three of the top five finishers in the 400-meter event. Freshman Francis Goins (Shaker Heights, OH) led the way with his runner-up finish in a time of 50.37 seconds. Senior Ben Crastnopol (Doylestown, PA) was right behind in third with a time of 50.69. Junior Vinne Lee (Walpole, MA) recorded a time of 51.30 to place fifth.
In the 400 hurdles event, freshman Ptah Osayande (Wallingford, PA) placed second with a time of 56.72.
The Jumbos will look to carry the momentum from these solid performances into next weekend's MIT Invitational, while some distance and mid-distance runners will head to Princeton to compete in the Larry Ellis Invitational. These meets will serve as the final tune-up before the NESCAC Championship at Bates on April 28.
Meet results
#
