MEDFORD, MA (February 4, 2023) -- The Tufts University indoor men's track and field squad won six events on Saturday at the Tufts Cupid Challenge, earning the team victory with 158 points in action from Gantcher Field House. The Jumbos were able to outlast both Amherst College (147.5) and MIT (120) for the team title Saturday, besting eight other teams in total.
The Jumbos had a ton of highlights on the day, led by sophomore
Luke Botsford and his performances in the 200 and 400 meter dashes. Botsford ran a time of 22.59 to earn the victory in the 200 meters. He would follow that up with a second-place finish in the 400 meter dash, running a 50.76. Sophomore
Jackson O'Toole had a solid day in the men's 1000 meters, as he earned the victory with a new personal-best time of 2:32.39.
First-year
Cullen McCaleb had his best day as a Jumbo on Saturday, racing to a win in the 3000 meters after recording a personal-best time of 8:33.37. The time for McCaleb was also 47th in the nation after competition Saturday. The 4x800 relay picked up a victory as well, racing to a 8:08.47 thanks to efforts by
Ryan Proulx, Will Cusato, O'Toole and McCaleb.
In the long jump, junior
Drew Svoboda chalked up a season-best mark of 6.92 meters (22' 8.5'') to win the event on his fourth jump of the afternoon. The distance ranks third in the nation after Saturday. Other standout performances came from sophomore
Ivan Appleton in the mile, racing to a third-place finish with a new PR time of 4:17.96, the 43rd best time this season in Division III. Proulx also added a new PR in the mile with a time of 4:19.83.
In the shot put, sophomore
Petey Lemmon posted a new personal-best mark of 14.83 meters to take third place, as his distance ranks 49th in the nation in Division III. In the 800 meters, sophomore
Walter Wagude ran Division III's 43rd best time this season with a season-best 1:56.29. First-year
Colin Duhnoski also ran a personal-best in the 800, finishing fourth with a 1:57.46.
In the 60 meter dash, first-year
Sam Nissen ran two personal-best times, chalking up a 7.12 in preliminaries before crossing the line in 7.11 in the finals for fourth place. In the 600 meters,
Sawyer Wilson ran a new personal-best time of 1:22.56 to earn a third-place finish, while sophomore
Chris Tilton followed Wilson closely with a 1:22.94 for a new PR. Junior
Marcus Hardy was sixth in 1:24.22, and first-year
John Puka ran a season-best time of 1:24.71 for seventh.
First-year Will Cusato took third in the 1000 meters with a collegiate-best time of 2:33.13, while
Jay Sharma posted a new personal-best in the 60 hurdles after running an 8.71 for sixth-place. In the high jump,
Edward Kiboma cleared 1.85 meters to take third-place, while
Liam Garrison took fourth in the pole vault after clearing 4.30 meters.
First-year
Sahr Matturi was third in the triple jump with a distance of 13.24 meters coming on his first of six jumps Saturday, while
Casey Lambert recorded a new PR with a mark of 12.33 meters for eighth place.
In the shot put,
Louis Tuccio was fourth with a 14.03 meter toss, while
Matthew Carey's mark of 13.27 meters was a personal-best and good for seventh place. Tuccio was fifth in the weight throw after recording a toss of 14.46 meters.
The Jumbos weill travel to the BU David Hemery Valentine Invitational Friday and Saturday, February 10-11, also competing at the Gordon Kelley Invitational at MIT next Saturday, February 11.
--JUMBOS--
