BOSTON - Junior Mitch Black broke his own school record in the 800 meters at Boston University's David Hemery Invitational on Saturday.
Black's time of 1:49.16 was good enough for fifth in the meet and improves on his own school record of 1:51.14 set last year. It's also the fastest time in the nation so far this season and the fourth fastest ever recorded in Division III history.
Classmate Veer Bhalla also ran a strong 800, as he clocked a time of 1:52.58 for 17th. In the 400, junior Alex Kasemir notched a time of 50.17 for 72nd. He was backed by sophomore Nick Usoff in 74th with a time of 50.19.
Black, Kasemir and Usoff took to the track again in the 4x400 meter relay joining freshman Andrew DiMaiti, and the quartet placed 14th of 52 teams in a time of 3:17.32, which ranks in the top-10 nationally to date.
In the 1,000, freshman Ty Enos (2:30.81) and junior Alex Apostolides (2:31.64) placed 28th and 34th, respectively.
Sophomores Thomas Wang and Henry Zhou fared well in the 60-meter hurdles, as they finished back-to-back in 46th and 47th with times of 9.00 and 9.01, respectively.
On the runway, freshman Linus Gordon leaped 20'6 ½" (6.26m) in the long jump for 31st, while sophomore Pietro Possenti cleared 13'5 ¼" (4.10m) in the pole vault to take 30th.
Sophomore Luke O' Connor and senior Marshall Pagano led a strong Tufts contingent in the mile. O' Connor took 114th in the field of 314 with a time of 4:19.30. Pagano was just behind in 4:20.34, good enough for 122nd.
Next weekend, coach Ethan Barron's team will look to be in top form as they travel to Springfield College to compete in the Division III New England Championship.
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