MEDFORD, MA (January 15, 2026) – The Tufts University men's track & field team looks to take a strong step forward as the 2025-26 season starts in earnest this weekend.
The Jumbos, who had one athlete in action to start the year at a Boston University meet in December, will host the annual Branwen Smith-King Invitational on Saturday to truly set off the starting gun on indoor action.
Leading the Jumbos this year, the distance group featuring returning All-American
Amokrane Aouchiche includes several members of the cross country team which won the NESCAC title and earned a seventh-place NCAA finish in the fall.
Josh Wilkie figures to be one of the top hurdlers in Division III, while national qualifiers
Luke Benson and
Sahr Matturi return in the jumps which will be another strong position for the team this year.
Several other promising returnees will look to improve upon their performances, while a large group of freshmen will seek to hit the ground running in their collegiate careers.
"The men were third in New England (indoors) and third in NESCAC (outdoors) last year, and the goal is to win both of those meets this year," said head coach of track & field
Kristen Morwick. "And to qualify more athletes for the NCAA Championships, with an ultimate goal to place in the top 10 at the NCAA's. While we lose a few key performers, a good group of returnees is joined by a freshman class that is really strong. We're hoping they can make an immediate impact."
Here's a closer look at the team by event:
SPRINTS – Following the graduation of outdoor 100 meters record-setter
Noah Turner, the Jumbos are rebuilding in this area. The addition of five promising freshmen should be significant. Of the returnees, juniors Charlie Fitzpatrick and
Brady Kamali and sophomores
Tejus Verma,
Sebastian Cohen and
Miles Sandoski all have the potential to contribute.
MID-DISTANCE – Tufts has solid depth in the middle distances, led by senior Will Cusato, juniors
Meba Henok and
Sam Kurian and sophomore
Liam Lucas. Kurian had the team's top 800 time indoors last year and Henok was the fastest in the 800 outdoors, while Cusato scored third at the New England meet indoors for the 1,000 and Lucas was fifth. Senior
Quinn Hampson, more of miler and distance runner, did win the 2025 New England Division III outdoor championship in the 1500 meters. Junior
Ryan Regan set the school-record holder in the 600 meters.
DISTANCE – Led by the cross country group, the Jumbo distance team should be one of the team's strongest areas. Senior
Cullen McCaleb, a cross country All-American, already broke Tufts' indoor 3,000 meters record at the first meet of the year back in December. Aouchiche was an NCAA qualifier outdoors last season in the 10,000 meters and placed 14th nationally for second-team All-American accolades. Junior
Jonah Reisner was the runner-up in the 5,000 meters at the NESCAC meet last spring. Cross country All-American
Harris Gulbransen and senior classmates
Calvin Cummings - the New England Division III champion in the 3,000-meter steeplechase outdoors – and
Luke Brennan are other veteran performers in the longer distances.
HURDLES – Now a senior, Wilkie has been one of Tufts' top overall performers in the last few seasons. His resume includes qualifying nationally indoors and outdoors, holding the school record in the 60-meter hurdles indoors and victories at the all-divisions New England Championship in the 400-meter hurdles last year as well as at the NESCAC Championship for the 110-meter hurdles in 2024. His 14th in the NCAA 400m hurdles outdoors last year was a second-team All-American award.
Cam McLeod has a top 10 time among Jumbo hurdlers and will look for more in this senior season. Senior Märten Tropp and sophomore
Sebastian Cohen add to the depth of the group.
JUMPS/VAULT – Like Wilkie, national qualifiers Matturi and Benson look to pick up where they left off last year. As a freshman in 2025, Benson was a second-team All-American with a 12th-place finish in the NCAA triple jump indoors. Matturi qualified and placed 21st outdoors nationally in the long jump. Both have been high scorers at the conference meet as well. Senior
Casey Lambert is ranked fifth on Tufts' outdoor long jump list. Junior
Sami Witta is the top returnee in the high jump, where he is tied for third all-time outdoors for the Jumbos. In the pole vault, Kropiwnicki, who was the New England DIII runner-up indoors, and sophomore
Alejandro Rincon, who had the team's #1 mark outdoors last year, are a solid pair. Moreno also looks to advance in the pole vault.
THROWS – After a few losses to graduation, the Jumbos will look to their returnees to step up this year. In the spring, senior
Randy Hamilton has been one of the conference's best in the javelin with a first-place finish at the conference meet in 2024 and a runner-up performance last year. Senior
Tre Williams is the top returnee in the shot put, while senior
Martin Decker, junior Nahom Tsegave and junior
Matthew Asaeda are other returning veterans looking to be key contributors in the throwing events.
RELAYS – The Jumbos have several individuals returning from excellent 2025 relays. Cusato, Kurian, Henok and Lucas were the 4x800-meter relay champions at the New England DIII outdoor meet last spring. Regan is also a key 4x8 returnee. Sandoski, Kamali and Wilkie were three-fourths of the 4x400-meter relay runner-up at the New England DIII Championship indoors. Verma also contributed to good 4x4 times. Wilkie and Kamali ran with the 4x100-meter relay that earned All-Conference honors last spring. Reisner, Cusato, Henok and McLeod were the team's top distance medley relay last season, and each returns looking to improve as a group in that event.
MULTI – Kropiwnicki and Moreno both had top-five finishes in the multi-event category at New England Division III championships last year. Kropiwnicki was fourth in the heptathlon at the New England D3 indoor meet and ranks fourth all-time among Jumbo heptathletes. Moreno took fifth in the decathlon at the same meet outdoors.
--JUMBOS--
