WILLIAMSTOWN, MA (April 25, 2026) – The Tufts University men's outdoor track & field team scored big in five field events today and leads the 2026 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championships which started on Saturday at Williams College.
The Jumbos totaled 45 team points in the field events and added seven in the 10,000 meters race for a team total of 52 on day one of the meet. They are ahead of second-place Amherst College (38) and third-place Williams College (29).
The top field performance came in the high jump, where freshman
Tieren Mead was the NESCAC runner-up with a 1.92m (6'3 ½") mark. Junior
Sami Witta placed fourth with the same mark (1.92m – 6'3 ½") as the duo combined to score 13 team points for the Jumbos.
Senior
Martin Decker had a career-best performance and placed third in the hammer throw with his 52.55m (172'5") PR. The distance puts him into Tufts' all-time top 10. Junior
Matthew Asaeda also scored seventh in the hammer with a 48.18m (158'1") mark.
The long jump group had three top-eight finishers combine for 12 team points. Senior
Sahr Matturi led the Jumbos in fourth place overall with a 6.96m (22'10") mark. He was followed in order by senior
Casey Lambert in fifth place (6.93m – 22'8 ¾") and freshman
Collett Kinobe in sixth (6.91m – 22'8"). All three hit their season-best marks in the event.
In the pole vault, freshman
Jonas Michael took fourth place with his clearance of 4.75m (15'7"), which is his outdoor PR, ranks him third outdoors at Tufts and is a top 40 national mark as of Saturday evening. Sophomore
Alejandro Rincon PR'd in the pole vault with a 4.60m (15'1") best mark for sixth place and #5 all-time at Tufts outdoors.
In the final event of the day, junior
Aidan Max and freshman
Chris Hovet both scored in the 10,000 meters. Max had a 31:00.98 PR for fourth place, and Hovet – running the first 10K of the season – placed seventh (31:17.90).
Trials in six running events were also held on Saturday, with Jumbos combining for six marks that made Sunday's finals. Senior
Josh Wilkie and freshman
Jack Davis both earned two of those finals marks.
In the 110-meter hurdles, Wilkie's 14.57 time was first in the trials out of 18 finishers. Freshman
Jonathan Bailey also made the finals with a 14.93 season-best mark that put him at #6 all-time at Tufts. Then in the 400-meter hurdles, Wilkie's 53.71 time was second in the trials. Senior
Cam McLeod will join him in the 400 hurdles final after running a 53.76 time that was sixth in the trials today.
Davis qualified fourth in the 200 meters trials (21.72) and eighth in the 100-meter dash (10.88).
Junior
Sam Kurian narrowly missed qualifying for the 800 meters final with his 1:53.13 time that was 10th in the trials today. Same for junior
Brady Kamali, who placed 11th in the 400 meters trials (49.26).
Day 2 of the NESCAC meet on Sunday has both track and field events starting at 11 AM.
--JUMBOS--
