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| Drew DiMaiti has the nation's fastest time in the 400 hurdles |
SAN DIEGO – The Tufts University men's outdoor track & field team was in fine early-season form on Saturday competing at the Point Loma Nazarene University Invitational. Head coach Joel Williams' Jumbos finished second out of 11 teams and posted 11 national marks.
Senior Drew DiMaiti has the #1 time in the country for the 400-meter hurdles with the 52.95 that he ran to win the race on Saturday in San Diego. In the 110-meter hurdles, junior Josh Etkind timed 14.86 – the #6 mark for Division III early in the outdoor season – for second place at the meet.
Junior Henry Hintermeister won the javelin throw at the competition with a 178'6" (54.40m) heave. That ranks 12th nationally. Also at #12 in DIII for the field events was a 49'1" (14.96m) shot put by sophomore Kevin Quisumbing. He was the runner-up in the event at Point Loma.
Tufts runners posted a pair of top 15 national times in the 800 meters. Sophomore Matt D'Anieri was third out of 45 in the race with a 1:55.69 finish. Junior teammate Christian Swenson was right on his heels in 1:55.92. Those are #11 and #16, respectively, on the DIII performance list for the time being. Junior Colin Raposo added the nation's 12th-best time in the 1,500 meters with his 3:58.52 mark.
In the relays, the 4x4's 3:22.93 was third at the race and is #16 nationally. The Jumbo team was freshman Vincent Avallone, DiMaiti, senior Patrick Milne and sophomore Billy Witrock. The 4x1 foursome of Milne, junior Tommy Miller, junior Brandon Levenstein and freshman Gavi Emunah combined on a 42.88 that ranks 23rd.
Miller also earned a #21 national ranking in the 200 meters with his 22.15 performance. Freshman Michael Mecha added his name to the top 25 list with a 43'8 ½" (13.32m) mark in the triple jump (24th for DIII).
The Jumbos (151 points) were second behind only Middlebury (155) at the meet, which scored 10 places in each event. Cal Poly Pomona was third at 124 and Williams was fourth (116).
Tufts returns home and hosts the annual Snowflake Classic next Saturday at Dussault Track.
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