THE BASICS:
- Location: Walter Slovenski Track (Lewiston, Maine)
- The Lead: Behind four top-10 nationally ranked marks and 13 overall event wins, the MIT men's track and field team defeated Bates and Colby in a tri-meet that was held at Bates. The Engineers captured 12 individual events, one relay and posted seven marks ranked among the top-20 in the country.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- In the high jump, senior Alec Reduker (Newburyport, Mass.) kicked off the season with a victory as he cleared six feet, 8.75 inches and is ranked second nationally. Senior Chris Washington (Frisco, Texas) placed second with a height of six feet, 4.75 inches.
- First-year Kenneth Wei (Mt. Sinai, N.Y.) set the MIT rookie record in the 60-meter hurdles in his collegiate debut, running a time of 8.32 seconds that is ranked No. 10 in the nation. In the long jump, junior Yorai Shaoul (Raanana, Israel) is fifth nationally after capturing the event with a leap of 22 feet, 9.75 inches. Wei was third in 22 feet, 1.5 inches, which is nine inches off the MIT rookie record. First-year Steven Marquez (El Centro, Calif.) was fourth, leaping 22 feet, 5.75 inches.
- Senior Albert Menio (East Stroudsburg, Pa.) finished second in the weight throw and is ninth nationally with a throw of 60 feet, 1.75 inches. Sophomore Ryan Nall (Lafayette, Calif.) finished third, throwing 54 feet, 2.5 inches. In the shot put, three Engineers scored with sophomore Nathan Basinger (Dalton, Ohio) winning the event with a throw of 46 feet, 11.5 inches. First-year Henry Sobieszczyk (Newton, Mass.) was second with a throw of 44 feet, 2.75 inches, followed by Menio in third at 43 feet, 9.75 inches.
- In the pole vault, senior Bobby Upton (Wexford, Pa.) won the event and is 12th nationally with a height of 14 feet, 7.25 inches. First-year Bryan Sperry (San Diego, Calif.) was second and junior Max Hardy (Houston, Texas) was third as both cleared 14 feet, 1.25 inches.
- Junior Benton Wilson (Dublin, Ohio) won the 200 with a time of 22.79 seconds, followed by first-year McKinley Polen (Los Altos, Calif.) in third at 23.73. The two reversed the finishes in the 60 meters as Polen won the event in 7.14 seconds and Wilson crossed second in 7.22 seconds. Wilson is ranked 16th nationally in the 200 meters.
- Sophomore Matt Schofield (Shorewood, Ill.) won the 800 meters and is 18th in the nation with a time of 2:00.64. Junior Ellery Rajagopal (Harrison, N.Y.) was second and just .03 seconds back in 2:00.67.
- MIT took the top two places in the 400 and 600-meter events as first-year Nisarg Dharia (Novi, Mich.) and sophomore Reed Foster (Palo Alto, Calif.) earned the victories. Dharia won the 400 in 52.50, followed by sophomore Andrew Shao (San Jose, Calif.) in the second at 53.41 seconds. Foster took the 600 in 1:25.25, with sophomore Nick Duchatellier (Dix Hills, N.Y.) crossing second in 1:25.56.
- Sophomore Andrew Mah (Newton, Mass.) narrowly won the mile in a time of 4:29.21 as first-year Lowell Hensgen (Raleigh, N.C.) was second just .38 seconds later. The duo also scored in the 1000 meters with Mah crossing second (2:36.94) and Hensgen in fourth (2:39.76). First-year Sam Acquaviva (Newburyport, Mass.) picked up the victory in the 3,000 meters in a time of 8:56.10 to win the event by a .53-second margin.
- MIT took first place in the 4x400 relay with a time of 3:29.46 as Dharia, Shao, Foster and Duchatellier won by a 1.24-second cushion. In the 4x800 relay, the team of Schofield, senior Josh Derrick (Winnetka, Ill.), sophomore Zach Johnson (La Crescenta, Calif.) and Rajagopal finished in second with a final time of 8:24.56.
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.
200 Meters
16. Benton Wilson - 22.79
800 Meters
18. Matt Schofield - 2:00.64
60-Meter Hurdles
10. Kenneth Wei - 8.32
High Jump
2. Alec Reduker - 6' 8.75"
Pole Vault
12. Bobby Upton - 14' 7.25"
Long Jump
5. Yorai Shaoul - 22' 9.75"
Weight Throw
9. Albert Menio - 60' 1.75"
UP NEXT:
- MIT returns to action next weekend as the Engineers travel to the University of Rhode Island for the Sorlein Memorial Invitational on Saturday, January 18th. That meet is slated for an 11 a.m. start at Mackal Field House in Kingston, R.I.
STAY CONNECTED:
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