|
| Freshman Peter McCawley ran the third leg of the first-place 4x8 relay |
SPRINGFIELD - Juniors Mitchell Black and Veer Bhalla won their respective events and were also part of a relay victory to lead the Jumbo men's indoor track and field team to sixth place in the Division III New England Championship at Springfield College on Friday and Saturday.
The Jumbos' 52.5 points landed the squad outside the top-five for the first time since 2000. MIT won the meet this year with 129 points. Bates (73), Williams (71), Southern Maine (67) and Bridgewater State (55) also finished ahead of Tufts on Saturday.
Several Jumbo athletes turned in impressive performances, nonetheless. Black won the 1,000 in a time of 2:28.24, which broke the school record of 2:28.70 set by Billy Hale in 2010. Bhalla, meanwhile, ran to victory in the 600 with a time of 1:21.60.
In the 4x800 relay, Black and Bhalla were joined by freshmen Tom DePalma and Peter McCawley, and the quartet clocked a time of 7:57.32 for the win. They edged Williams College's foursome at the finish line by fourth-tenths of a second.
Black and Bhalla now have a combined six New England D3 indoor titles. In addition to this year's victories, Black won the 800 and Bhalla was first in the 600 last year giving him back-to-back wins in the event. Both were also on the 4x800 relay which won the NED3 title in 2013.
Junior Michael Curley turned in a stellar performance in Saturday's 5,000 meters as he recorded a season-best time of 14:52.11 for a runner-up finish.
Off the track, junior Atticus Swett took fifth in the shot put with a heave of 47'9" (14.55m), while sophomore Pietro Possenti tied for fourth in the pole vault with his clearance of 13'9 ¼" (4.20m).
Senior Allan Yau fared well in the heptathlon, as he tallied a season-best 4,236 points to grab fourth place. Senior Marshall Pagano also scored with Black in the 1,000, crossing the finish line in a 2:33.38 time.
Next weekend, championship season rolls on for coach Ethan Barron's team, as the Jumbos will compete in the All-New England Championship at Boston University.
#
