BOSTON, MA (March 1, 2026) – In a meet where the final score was about as close as it can get, the Tufts University men's track & field team placed second at the 2026 New England Division III Indoor Championships which finished up on Sunday at The TRACK at New Balance.
Amherst College held off the Jumbos to win the New England DIII indoor title. The Mammoths compiled a team score of 103 to edge the Jumbos, who accumulated 101.5 total points.
Jumbo highlights today included senior
Cullen McCaleb winning the 3000 meters race, senior
Josh Wilkie breaking his own school record in the 60-meter hurdles and the 4x800-meter relay erasing a 16-year old school record.
McCaleb and junior
Harris Gulbransen finished 1-2 in the 3000 meters to score huge points for the Jumbos. McCaleb's 8:20.82 time to win gave the Jumbos their first New England indoor 3000 champion since 2009. Gulbransen timed 8:21.19 for second place. McCaleb also combined with senior
Quinn Hampson to score 11 points in the mile. McCaleb was just off his PR with a 4:09.81 time for second place. Hampson's 4:11.56 was sixth in the race, and a PR that now ranks him seventh all-time at Tufts.
Wilkie lowered his previous school record in the 60 hurdles from 8.09 seconds down to 8.06, which he ran in today's final for second place. It's a top 10 mark nationally as of Sunday afternoon. He also produced a PR in the 400 (49.72) later in the meet.
As Tufts was going head-to-head against Amherst down the stretch, the Jumbos received a 7:42.34 school-record time from the 4x800 foursome. Senior
William Cusato, junior
Meba Henok, junior
Sam Kurian and freshman
Charlie Jacques combined on the mark that was third in the event and replaced the former Tufts record that was set in 2010.
The Jumbos scored 12 points in the 5000 meters today with a pair of top-five finishes. Junior
Jonah Reisner ran an indoor PR of 14:38.40 to take second place, while freshman
Chris Hovet ran fifth with his 14:39.80 mark. Running his career-best in the 600 meters was senior
Cam McLeod, whose 1:21.78 time was a runner-up finish by just two-tenths of a second. He moved into the Tufts top 10 with the time.
Freshman
Jack Davis became #2 all-time at Tufts for the indoor 200 meters with his 21.63 mark today that took fifth place. It's also #39 nationally. Sophomore
Luke Benson scored high for the Jumbos in the triple jump, where his 14.21m (46'7 ½") was the third-place mark.
A pair of freshmen scored for the Jumbos in the long jump.
Jaival Kang had a 6.71m (22'0 ¼") distance for fifth place, while
Collett Kinobe earned seventh place with a 6.56m (21'6 ¼") mark. Freshman
Tieren Mead cleared the bar at 1.95m (6'4 ¾") in the high jump, tying for seventh place.
In the 1000 meters, Cusato (2:28.53) and Hampson (2:28.87) finished sixth and seventh, respectively. Hampson's mark is a PR that places him in the #5 spot all-time at Tufts in the 1000.
The Jumbo 4x4 of Wilkie, McLeod, sophomore
Miles Sandoski and junior
Brady Kamali ran a 3:19.72 time for sixth place late in the meet. Early in the action, Tufts' distance medley relay was seventh with a 10:18.70 mark. That foursome was freshman
Liam Lucas, sophomore
Tejus Verma, Henok and freshman
Joey Papanicholas.
Tufts just missed scoring in the throws. Senior
Tre Williams finished 10th for the weight throw at 15.97m (52'4 ¾"), while freshman
William Cipollone was ninth for the shot put at 14.25m (46'9").
Though neither junior Charlie Fitzpatrick nor Davis qualified for the final in the 60-meter dash, they both posted PR times in the preliminaries. Fitzpatrick's 6.98 now ranks him fifth at Tufts for the event, while the 7.00 by Davis makes him seventh. Sophomore
Sebastian Cohen hit a big PR in the 400 meters of 49.17 seconds, which finished just outside of the scoring in ninth place. The time puts him at #7 all-time in the event among Jumbos.
Jacques was also 12th in the 800 meters (1:54.18) today, while sophomore
Alejandro Rincon took 18th in the pole vault (4.30m - 14'1 ¼"). Freshman
Jonathan Bailey's 8.51 in the 60 hurdles prelims puts him sixth all-time at Tufts.
The Jumbos will host the Tufts Final Qualifier next Friday and Saturday at the Gantcher Center, a last chance for competitors to improve or record national qualifying marks.
--JUMBOS--
