THE BASICS:
- Location: Boston University Track and Tennis Center (Boston, Mass.) and the Johnson Athletic Center (Cambridge, Mass.)
- The Lead: Led by the fastest time in the nation from the distance medley relay team, the No. 3 ranked MIT men's track and field team competed at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational and the Gordon Kelly Invitational over the weekend.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
David Hemery Valentine Invitational
- On Friday, the MIT distance medley relay team of Simon Alford (Dublin, Ohio), Benton Wilson (Dublin, Ohio), Nathan Munet (Elkhart, Ind.) and junior Aidan Gilson (Florence, Mass.) ran the fastest time in the nation as the group crossed in a time of 9:54.23. The time is .69 seconds ahead of the No. 2 time currently.
- On Saturday, Munet was second in his section of the 800 in 1:55.42 as he is currently 36th in the country with an earlier time of 1:54.51 from last weekend. Alford was also eighth in his section of the 800 as he ran 1:59.09. In the 400, senior Chris Sweeney (Woodland Park, N.J.) won his heat in 49.76 for the No. 10 time on the MIT all-time list, while Wilson finished fourth in his heat at 51.70.
- Senior Tre Albritten (Plano, Texas) was third in his heat and 23rd overall in the 200 as he ran 21.92 to rank 18th nationally in one of the fastest times in MIT history. Wilson also ran in the 200 with a time of 22.90.
- Freshman Kent Slaney (Palo Alto, Calif.) won his heat in the mile in a PR of 4:19.39, while freshman Dylan Doblar (San Jose, Calif.) ran 4:22.31 and sophomore Josh Derrick (Winnetka, Ill.) ran 4:22.98. In the 1,000, Gilson ran the fastest time in MIT history as he finished 16th overall with a time of 2:26.19.
- Rounding out the BU meet was sophomore Brian Bates (Corning, N.Y.) in the 3,000 meters as he crossed in 8:49.54, which is his PR in the event.
Gordon Kelly Invitational
- On Saturday, the Engineers picked up four event wins and had one top-20 showing nationally in the team's first home meet of the season. Senior Ryan Prinster (Boulder, Colo.) won the triple jump with a leap of 46 feet, 11.5 inches that ranked him eighth all-time at MIT and 19th in the country. In the long jump, freshman Mac Gregg (The Woodlands, Texas) continued his strong rookie season with a winning jump of 21 feet, 7.5 inches while freshman Joachim Kennedy (Nashville, Tenn.) was fourth at 19 feet, 11.75 inches.
- Junior Jon Fakkema (Blaine, Wash.) captured the weight throw with a distance of 56 feet, 3.5 inches while also finishing fourth in the shot put at 44 feet, 4.5 inches. Senior Cody Bratten (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) was fifth in the shot with a throw of 44 feet, 3.25 inches, while sophomore Albert Menio (East Stroudsburg, Pa.) finished fourth in the weight throw at 48 feet, five inches.
- The final event win for MIT came in the 600 meters as freshman Mohan Rajagopal (Harrison, N.Y.) ran 1:26.36. Also on the track, sophomore Kenneth Acquah (Tenafly, N.J.) had two top-five showings as he was second in the 200 at 23.73 and fourth in the 400 at 53.18. His 200 time was a personal indoor best.
- The Engineers dominated the pole vault with five of the top seven finishers, led by sophomore Raja Rajcic (Lubbock, Texas) with a second-place finish at 14 feet, 11 inches. Junior Scott Cameron (Dublin, Ohio) was third at 14 feet, 5.25, along with freshman Liam Ackerman (Miami, Fla.) in fourth as he also cleared 14 feet, 5.25 inches.
UP NEXT:
- MIT is back in action on February 16-17 as the Engineers travel to Middlebury College for the New England Division III Indoor Championship.
STAY CONNECTED:
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