MEDFORD - Junior Andrew DiMaiti of the Tufts University men's outdoor track & field team ran the third-fastest time in the nation so far this season in the 400-meter hurdles to lead the Jumbos at the second annual Sunshine Classic hosted at Dussault Track on Saturday.
DiMaiti's time of 52.47 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles today improved upon his previous career-best mark of 53.01. As of 6:15 p.m. Saturday, only St. John Fisher junior Peter Girardi (51.84) and Eastern Mennonite junior Connor Faint (52.33) rank ahead of him in DIII. DiMaiti won the race today by more than four seconds over runner-up James O'Donnell from Colby (56.63).
Tufts amassed 287 points as a team while winning the meet at home. Colby was second with a 164 score and UMass Boston placed third at 123.
The Jumbos won 12 events in all. Junior Josh Etkind had a career-best in the triple jump at 45'10 1/2" (13.98m) to win that event. The distance is ranked #29 in DIII after he extended upon his previous season-best of 45'5 1/4" (13.85m) by five inches.
DiMaiti also anchored a 4x400-meter relay including freshman Jordan Abate, senior tri-captain Nick Usoff and sophomore Tommy Doyle which won with a 3:21.46 time. The mark is a top 50 national time. The Jumbo 4x1 also had a good race as junior Patrick Milne, Abate, sophomore Brandon Levenstein and DiMaiti combined on a 42.81 finish.
Junior Stefan Duvivier and sophomore Ben Wallace both matched their season-best while winning their events. Duvivier cleared 6'6" (1.98m) for first in the high jump and Wallace got over the bar at 12'11 1/2" (3.95m) in the pole vault. Sophomore Charles Pennington's 21'8" (6.60m) in the long jump won the event.
Other Tufts track wins came from sophomore Anthony Kardonsky in the 200 meter dash (22.52), sophomore Colin Raposo in the 800 (1:59.38) and sophomore James Gregoire in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (10:03.16). Three victories in throwing events came from fresham Kevin Quisumbing in the shot put at 46'8 3/4" (14.24m), graduate student Michael Paloian's 148'1" (45.14) in the hammer and Usoff with a 169'7" (51.70m) mark in the javelin.
With the season motoring along, the Jumbos have their final regular-season weekend coming up with events at Princeton (Larry Ellis Invite) and Trinity.
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