THE BASICS:
- Location: San Antonio, Texas
- The Lead: At the Trinity Invitational and the Bobcat Invitational this past weekend, the No. 11 ranked MIT men's track and field team had two top-10 performances and four individual event victories on the team's spring break trip.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Freshman Bobby Upton (Wexford, Pa.) posted the top pole vault height in the nation as he won the event with a vault of 15 feet, 9.75 inches. Junior Jason Villanueva (Hesperia, Calif.) was also victorious for the Engineers in the triple jump as his leap of 46 feet, six inches ranks him fifth nationally in Division III. Villanueva was also a top-10 finisher in the long jump as he placed eighth at 20 feet, 7.75 inches. Junior Ryan Prinster (Boulder, Colo.) posted a fourth-place finish in the triple jump at 44 feet, two inches, followed by freshman Shane Lyons (Brunswick, Maine) in sixth at 40 feet, 8.25 inches.
- Freshman Chris Washington (Frisco, Texas) captured the high jump with a clearance of six feet, six inches to go along with his 10th-place finish in the long jump at 20 feet, 1.5 inches. Freshman Steven Speck (LaGrange, Ohio) also finished among the top finishers in the high jump as he was third with a height of six feet, two inches.
- At the Bobcat Invitational at Texas State University, junior Cody Bratten (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) finished 10th in the discus with a throw of 153 feet, 7.25 inches that currently has him ranked 12th in the country. At the Trinity Invitational, Bratten also posted a pair of runner-up finishes in the shot put and discus with throws of 48 feet, 9.5 inches and 153 feet, four inches, respectively.
- Sophomore Jon Fakkema (Blaine, Wash.) was victorious in the hammer throw with a toss of 152 feet, 10 inches as he was also among the top 10 in the discus and shot put. In the discus, Fakkema placed fourth at 144 feet, eight inches and followed that with a sixth-place showing in the shot at 44 feet, 4.75 inches. Freshman Albert Menio (East Stroudsburg, Pa.) was outstanding in his outdoor debut as he was seventh in the hammer and ninth in both the shot put and discus. Menio posted a throw of 125 feet, one inch in the hammer, along with throws of 125 feet, four inches in the discus and 40 feet, 0.5 inch in the shot put.
- On the track, senior Danny Newman (St. Charles, Ill.) posted a pair of top-10 finishes in the 200 and 400-meter events. Newman was seventh in the 400 at 51.45 seconds, along with an eighth-place showing in the 200 in a time of 22.26. Freshman Joe Faraguna (Houston, Texas) ran the 800 and 1,500 at Trinity, including a ninth-place finish in the 800 as he crossed in 2:03.32.
UP NEXT:
- MIT returns to action on Saturday, April 8th as the Engineers travel to Bates College in Lewiston, Maine to take on Bates, RPI and Tufts.
STAY CONNECTED:
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