THE BASICS:
- Location: Sherie and Don (1961) Morrison Track (Cambridge, Mass.) and Weaver Stadium (Princeton, N.J.)
- The Lead: Led by a season-best performance in the 3,000-meter steeplechase by senior Aidan Gilson (Florence, Mass.), the No. 11 MIT men's track and field team competed at both the Larry Ellis Invitational at Princeton and the Sean Collier Invitational at MIT.
HOW IT HAPPENED AT THE LARRY ELLIS INVITATIONAL AT PRINCETON:
- Gilson finished eighth overall and second among Division III runners in the steeplechase with a time of 9:08.03 which was a season-best by 6.62 seconds. First-year Andrew Mah (Newton, Mass.) crossed in 13th place and in third among D3 performers, running 14:53.49 which was a PR by just over six seconds.
HOW IT HAPPENED AT THE SEAN COLLIER INVITATIONAL AT MIT:
- The Engineers picked up event wins in the high jump, 5,000 meters and the long jump on Saturday. Junior Chris Washington (Frisco, Texas) was the winner of the high jump, clearing six feet, 6.75 inches. Senior Dennis Maloney (New Albany, Ohio) led five Engineers in the top 10 of the 5,000 in 15:27.18, while junior Steven Speck (LaGrange, Ohio) captured the long jump with a leap of 21 feet, 0.5 inches.
- Senior David Walter (Middleville, Mich.) was second in the 5K in 15:38.58, followed by sophomore Finn Jacobson-Schulte (Lakeville, Minn.) in third at 15:39.84, junior Josh Derrick (Winnetka, Ill.) in fifth at 15:47.27 and first-year Zach Johnson (La Crescenta, Calif.) in ninth at 16:10.63.
- Sophomore Liam Ackerman (Miami, Fla.) was second in the pole vault at 14 feet, 11 inches as five Engineers placed in the top 10. Sophomore Everett Brandyberry (Hill City, Kan.) and senior Scott Cameron (Dublin, Ohio) tied for fifth at 13 feet, 11.25 inches, while sophomore Max Hardy (Houston, Texas) was eighth at 13 feet, 11.25 inches and junior Raja Rajcic (Lubbock, Texas) was 10th with a height of 13 feet, 5.25 inches.
- In the 800 meters, junior Simon Alford (Dublin, Ohio) finished second at 1:56.09 and he was followed in third by first-year Aiden Foucault Etheridge (Leverett, Mass.) in a time of 1:56.84. Sophomore Ellery Rajagopal (Harrison, N.Y.) crossed in fourth at 1:58.26, with first-year Reed Foster (Palo Alto, Calif.) in sixth at 1:58.54 and first-year Matt Schofield (Shorewood, Ill.) in 10th at 2:00.05. Sophomore Dylan Doblar (San Jose, Calif.) placed third in the 1,500 meters in a time of 4:07.10 and junior Steven Goldy (Centennial, Colo.) crossed in 4:11.11 to finish sixth. First-year Andrew Shao (San Jose, Calif.) finished in third place in the 400-meter hurdles as he posted a final time of 59.76 seconds.
- Senior Jon Fakkema (Blaine, Wash.) finished third in both the discus and the hammer throw with distances of 153 feet, 10 inches and 167 feet, two inches. He was also fourth in the shot put at 48 feet, 4.5 inches. Junior Albert Menio (East Stroudsburg, Pa.) placed fourth in the discus at 150 feet, 11 inches and sixth in the hammer at 158 feet, five inches, while first-year Nathan Basinger (Dalton, Ohio) finished sixth in the shot put (46 feet, 8.75 inches) and eighth in the discus (141 feet, seven inches).
- First-year William Woltmann (Secaucus, N.J.) placed third in the shot put at 50 feet, 4.5 inches and first-year Ryan Nall (Lafayette, Calif.) finished in eighth at 45 feet, 5.75 inches. In the javelin, junior Gabriel Madonna (Tyngsborough, Mass.) was second at 170 feet, 11 inches and first-year Cooper Driscoll (Wallingford, Pa.) was third with a toss of 166 feet, nine inches.
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
3,000m Steeplechase
4. Aidan Gilson - 9:08.03
Pole Vault
8. Liam Ackerman - 15' 11"
High Jump
1. Alec Reduker - 7' 0.25"
Long Jump
4. Yorai Shaoul - 23' 10.25"
Triple Jump
1. Yorai Shaoul - 49' 9"
Javelin
9. Gabriel Madonna - 197' 6"
UP NEXT:
- MIT is in action at the NEWMAC Championship on Saturday, April 27th as that meet begins at 10:30 a.m. at Springfield College. The Engineers enter the meet as the 18-time defending NEWMAC Champions.
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