MEDFORD - The Jumbo men's track and field team used four event victories and a slew of top-five finishes to come out on top in the Tufts Invitational at the Gantcher Center on Saturday.
Although it was the first meet of the season, the Jumbos showed few signs of rust as their score of 125 was 24 points better than runner-up Amherst. UMass Dartmouth's 88 points was good enough for third in the 11-team field.
Tufts senior Graham Beutler (Weston, CT) started his season on the right foot with a sub-50-second 400 meter time. He easily bested the field with his 49.86 showing.
The Jumbos also earned big points in the 1000, as sophomore Mitchell Black (Brunswick, ME) notched a win with a time of 2:35.04. He was followed by senior Jamie Norton (Groton, MA) and sophomore Veer Bhalla (West Windsor, NJ) in second and third with times of 2:35.79 and 2:36.56 respectively.
In the 3,000, senior Andrew Shapero scored six third-place points with his time of 8:49.33. He was backed up by sophomore James Traester (Amherst, MA), whose time of 8:50.95 was good enough for sixth in a tightly packed field.
Another highlight on the track was the winning performance of the 4x400 meter relay team. Bhalla, senior Bobby McShane (Mansfield, MA), and sophomores Bryson Hoover Hankerson (Owings Mills, MD) and Alex Apostolides (Athens, Greece) clocked a time of 3:25.02 to emerge victorious.
Hoover Hankerson was also active on the runway, as he took third in the long jump with a leap of 20'10" (6.34m).
In the circle, junior Brian Williamson (Prairie Village, KS) launched the shot put 49' 10" (15.20m) to win the event.
The Jumbos will look to build off these solid performances as they gradually round into mid-season form. Next weekend, coach Ethan Barron's team will split up and compete at both the Bowdoin Invitational and Boston University's John Thomas Invitational.
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