THE BASICS:
- Location: Triton Track and Field Stadium (La Jolla, Calif.)
- The Lead: At the season-opening California Collegiate Open, the No. 12 MIT men's track and field team finished fourth out of 13 teams with 80 points. Overall, the Engineers had five top-20 marks nationally, including the top triple jump in the country by sophomore Yorai Shaoul (Raanana, Israel).
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Shaoul, the NCAA indoor national champion, posted a leap of 49 feet, nine inches on his final jump to finish second overall in the triple jump. He was also second overall in the long jump with a leap of 23 feet that currently ranks him sixth nationally.
- Senior Jon Fakkema (Blaine, Wash.) finished second in the shot put and third in the discus, with both marks ranking him in the top 15 in the country. In the shot, Fakkema posted a throw of 50 feet and is ranked 13th as he led three Engineers who scored in the event. First-year William Woltmann (Secaucus, N.J.) was fourth at 48 feet, 11 inches, while first-year Ryan Nall (Lafayette, Calif.) finished eighth at 45 feet, 8.5 inches. In the discus, Fakkema is 15th nationally with his third-place toss of 154 feet, eight inches.
- Junior Alec Reduker (Newburyport, Mass.) finished second in the high jump with a height of six feet, five inches as he is ranked 19th in the country. Junior Steven Speck (LaGrange, Ohio) also scored in the event, finishing seventh at six feet, 1.25 inches.
- The Engineers also had three scorers in the pole vault, led by a fourth-place finish by senior Scott Cameron (Dublin, Ohio) with a height of 14 feet, 7.25 inches. Sophomore Liam Ackerman (Miami, Fla.) placed sixth at 14 feet, 1.75 inches, followed in eighth by sophomore Everett Brandyberry (Hill City, Kan.) with a clearance of 14 feet, 1.25 inches.
- Sophomore Benton Wilson (Dublin, Ohio) scored in both the 100 and 200-meter events, finishing fourth in the 200 with a time of 22.14 seconds. He was fifth in the 100, crossing in 11.10 seconds. In the 400-meter hurdles, sophomore Joachim Kennedy (Nashville, Tenn.) placed seventh in 57.04 seconds and he was followed in eighth by first-year Andrew Shao (San Jose, Calif.) in 58.15 seconds. Kennedy was also fourth in the 110-meter hurdles in 15.55 seconds, along with a fifth-place in the 400 meters by first-year Nick Duchatellier (Dix Hills, N.Y.) in 50.31 seconds.
TOP-20 NCAA RANKINGS:
- Below are the current top-20 rankings for the Engineers, from meets up to this point in the season as listed at www.tfrrs.org.
High Jump
1. Alec Reduker - 6' 5"
Long Jump
6. Yorai Shaoul - 23'
Triple Jump
1. Yorai Shaoul - 49' 9"
Shot Put
13. Jon Fakkema - 50'
Discus
15. Jon Fakkema - 154' 8"
UP NEXT:
- MIT opens its home schedule on Saturday, April 6th as the Engineers host Bates, RPI and Tufts.
STAY CONNECTED:
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