MEDFORD - Sophomore Mitchell Black (Brunswick, ME) clocked the fastest 800 meter time in the nation so far this season along with a school record as the Jumbo men's track and field team placed second in the Tufts Stampede at the Gantcher Center on Friday and Saturday.
Tufts tallied 117 points, a distant second to MIT's 257. Coast Guard (85.5), Bridgewater State (79), and RIC (59) rounded out the top-five of the 13-team field.
Black's time of 1:51.14 easily bested the competition on Saturday and put him in the number one spot on the national list. Because the time was run on a flat track, it will be converted down approximately 1.6 seconds in the national ranks, which all but ensures Black will qualify for the NCAA Championship. It also beat Jeff Marvel's 1:51.43 school mark set in 2012.
Black's classmate Veer Bhalla (West Windsor, NJ) also turned in a stellar performance in the 800, as he placed third in a time of 1:54.92. After the conversion, Bhalla ranks in the top 10 nationally, but he will most likely have to improve that time to qualify for NCAA's.
The Jumbos' next highest finishes on the track came from sophomore Francis Goins (Shaker Heights, OH) and junior Marshall Pagano (Niskayuna, NY). Goins took second in the 400 with a time of 50.95, while Pagano was the runner-up in the 3,000 with a time of 8:48.18. He was backed by freshman Luke O' Connor (Chicago, IL), who clocked a time of 8:50.65 to place fifth.
In the mile, senior Ben Wallis (Dover, NH) and sophomore James Traester (Amherst, MA) took fourth and fifth with times of 4:23.80 and 4:24.24 respectively.
Tufts had several top-five finishes in the field as well. Sophomore Atticus Swett (Bow, NH) launched the weight 49' 2 ¼" (14.99m) to place fifth. He fared even better in the shot put, as his toss of 47' 0 ¾" (14.34m) was good enough for third. He was edged by teammate Brian Williamson (Prairie Village, KS), who placed second with a distance of 51' 3" (15.62m).
In Friday's multi event, Tufts claimed the second and third spots as sophomore Alex Karys (Newton, MA) tallied 4,075 points and senior Andrew Osborne (Andover, MA) totaled 4,069.
On the runway, sophomore Bryson Hoover Hankerson (Owings Mills, MD) leaped 20' 9" (6.32m) to place fifth in the long jump, while freshman Jared Asselin (Milford, NH) took fifth in the triple jump with a distance of 42' 6" (12.95m).
Coach Ethan Barron's team will look to keep the momentum rolling as championship season draws closer. Next weekend, the Jumbos will split up and compete at Boston University's David Hemery Invite and MIT's Coed Invite.
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