NEW HAVEN, CT - Sophomore Andrew DiMaiti and junior Nick Usoff of the Tufts University men's outdoor track & field team will both race in the 400-meter finals tomorrow at the 2016 New England Incollegiate Amateur Athletic Association Championships hosted by Southern Connecticut.
In the preliminaries on Friday, DiMaiti's time of 53.57 seconds was sixth and Usoff's 53.94 mark was eighth in the 28-man race. DiMaiti improved his national ranking in the event to 17th as of Friday night. He took 0.38 off the 53.95 time he ran at NESCAC's. Usoff timed 53.94 for a national top 30 ranking.
Senior James Traester was a fraction of a second from scoring for the Jumbos. He was ninth in the 5,000 meters. His 14:48.62 was 0.01 behind Charles Davis from Hartford, who finished in a 14:48.61 time.
Two Jumbos just missed scoring spots in all on Friday. Freshman Josh Etkind was ninth in the 110-meter hurdles preliminaries. His time of 14.90 seconds was 0.14 out of the final qualifying spot.
Also in action for Tufts on Friday was Michael Paloian in the hammer throw, where his 151'4" (46.12m) distance was 18th. Alex Kasemir ran the 400 (51.17) and the Jumbos had three athletes - Peter Clark, Thomas Miller, and Bryson Hoover-Hankerson - in the 100 meters. Clark's 11.00 flat was Tufts' season-best time and 14th in the race, which did not qualify for Saturday's final. Michael Caughron finished the 10 K in 33:48.33 (14th), while Henry Hintermeister was also in the 400-meter hurdles field (57.69) today.
The Jumbos did not score at the meet on Friday. They continue among the region's top competition tomorrow.
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