WILLIAMSTOWN – Sophomore Luke Botsford broke the school record in the 400 meters while helping the Tufts men's outdoor track & field team place second at the New England Division III Championships on Saturday.
Botsford's time of 47.53 seconds was below the 47.89 previous Jumbo record held by James Lavallee from 1995. The time ranks Botsford third nationally in the event this season. The Jumbos also had Alex Lemieux place fourth with a 48.77 time in the 4.
Tufts won three events overall. Freshman Ivan Appleton (pictured) was first in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a 9:38.20 time, while sophomore Harry Rienecker-Found cleared 6'7" (2.01m) in the high jump to win that event.
Jay Sharma ran 54.82 in the 400-meter hurdles, which is Tufts' best mark of the season and broke into the national top 50. Sam Gatti had the team's best 1500 of the season (3:58.50) while placing third at the meet.
The 4x400-meter relay also put together the best time of the Jumbo outdoor season at 3:20.97 by Sawyer Wilson, Noah Turner, Lemieux and Botsford.
The Jumbos accumulated 76 team points.
