BOSTON – Senior Matt D'Anieri ran a school record in the 1,000 meters to lead the Tufts men's indoor track & field team at Boston University's David Hemery Valentine Invitational on Saturday.
D'Anieri ran a 2:27.45 time that replaced the old record of 2:27.92 recorded by four-time NCAA 800 meters champion Mitchell Black in 2016. D'Anieri was 22nd out of 103 runners in a field at BU that included Division I and club competitors.
Earlier in the day, D'Anieri also had a PR time of 1:52.58 in the 800 meters. Run on BU's banked track, the time is converted for NCAA Division III national ranking purposes. His adjusted 1:54.19 time is ranked 11th nationally.
Jumbo freshman Evan Ensslin, running in his first-ever 800, finished in 1:52.60, which adjusted to a 1:54.21 that is right behind D'Anieri at #12 in DIII. Senior co-captain Roman Lovell (1:54.51) and freshman Marcus Hardy (1:55.22) added to a strong showing by the Jumbos' 800 contingent.
Tufts ran a 4x400-meter relay whose time is the #31 national mark. The foursome of junior OJ Armstrong, sophomore Sam Oomen-Lochtefeld, sophomore Riley Patten and freshman Andrii Campbell were 12th out of 53 in the race with a 3:20.26 finish (3:23.47 converted).
Junior co-captain Harry Steinberg continued to make distance strides with an 8:31.65 PR in the 3,000 meters. His adjusted mark of 8:37.59 falls within the national top 50.
Many of Tufts' best times over the years have been recorded at BU and a number of other PR's were set today. Sophomore Neerav Gade led four Jumbos in the 3,000 meters with an 8:42.73 career best. Patten's 49.94 in the 400 meters was also a PR early in his career. Oomen-Lochtefeld also PR'd in the 400 (50.38).
Armstrong added a 22.38 in the 200 meters to his lead leg with the 4x4. Freshman Jack Hirsch was fastest out of three Jumbos in the 500 meters with a 1:07.17 time.
The Jumbos have their final meet before the championship season next Saturday at Springfield College's Triangle Classic.
