BRUNSWICK, Maine - Sophomore Hiroto Watanabe busted out a 1:54.41 in the 800 meters, the fastest time in the nation thus far, to lead the Tufts University men's indoor track & field team at Bowdoin College on Saturday.
Watanabe won the 800 race at Bowdoin by over two seconds with a time that was more than three seconds faster than his previous collegiate best. He ran a 1:57.97 as a freshman last winter. His time today was atop the Division III rankings for the 800 as of early Saturday night.
Tufts won three events overall as it took third place out of five teams at the meet. The Jumbos totaled a 120 score, behind first-place MIT's 181 and runner-up Bowdoin's 135. Southern Maine took fourth with a 74 score and Merrimack was fifth at 42.
Freshman Kevin Quisumbing won the shot put on Saturday with a 50'7 1/2" heave (15.43m). That improved on his season-best set in his collegiate debut last week and currently ranks 22nd nationally.
Junior Andrew DiMaiti also won for Tufts on Saturday with a time of 1:22.14 in the 600 meters. Tufts finished in three of the top four spots in that race, including third-place senior Nick Usoff's 1:23.78 time.
The Jumbo 4x400 relay improved its national ranking early in the 2017 season. The foursome of DiMaiti, freshman Billy Witrock, sophomore Anthony Kardonsky and sophomore Thomas Doyle combined on a 3:27.50 that is ranked 22nd currently. They were second at Bowdoin.
Sophomore Colin Raposo also recorded a top 25 national time at Bowdoin. He ran 4:21.91 in the mile for second place in the race and #24 in D3 as of early Saturday night.
Sophomore Josh Etkind posted an 8.51 prelim time in the 60-meter hurdles to rank among the national top 40. He was second in the final at 8.59 seconds. His 43'9 3/4" (13.35m) in the triple jump was also a national top 50 performance.
Among other runner-ups for the Jumbos at Bowdoin was senior Blake Coolidge in the 60 meters (7.05) and 200 meters (22.64). The 4x8 relay of Raposo, junior Sam Little, freshman Jackson Mihm and freshman Roman Lovell was second with an 8:13.23 time.
The Jumbos will host the Tufts Stampede at the Gantcher Center next Friday and Saturday (Jan. 27-28) as well as sending some athletes to Boston University's John Thomas Invitational on those days.
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