THE BASICS:
- Location: Mackal Fieldhouse (Kingston, R.I.)
- The Lead: Led by two nationally-ranked performances by senior Alec Reduker (Newburyport, Mass.), the No. 8 ranked MIT men's track and field team competed at the Sorlien Memorial Invitational on Saturday afternoon. The Engineers picked up three event wins, had 22 top-10 finishes and eight top-20 nationally-ranked marks.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Reduker captured the triple jump with a leap of 48 feet, 10.25 inches, along with a second-place performance in the high jump with a height of six feet, 10.25 inches. Both marks are ranked second in the country.
- Senior Chris Washington (Frisco, Texas) placed fourth in the high jump at six feet, five inches, while first-year Steven Marquez (El Centro, Calif.) cleared six feet, 3.25 inches to finish fifth.
- First-year Kenneth Wei (Mt. Sinai, N.Y.) broke his own MIT rookie record by 0.1 seconds as he won the 60-meter hurdles in a time of 8.22 seconds. He is ranked eighth nationally. Wei is also 15th in the country in the long jump as he placed third with a leap of 22 feet, 9.75 inches. Junior Yorai Shaoul (Raanana, Israel) placed second and is 10th nationally with a mark of 23 feet, 0.5 inches.
- In the weight throw, senior Albert Menio (East Stroudsburg, Pa.) posted the No. 8 mark in the country as he placed third overall with a throw of 56 feet, four inches. Senior Bobby Upton (Wexford, Pa.) finished ninth in the pole vault with a height of 14 feet, 3.25 inches and first-year Henry Sobieszczyk (Newton, Mass.) was 10th in the shot put at 43 feet, 11.75 inches.
- On the track, junior Benton Wilson (Dublin, Ohio) captured the 400 meters in a time of 50.93 seconds to defeat Markus Bagley of UConn by .01 seconds. Wilson posted the No. 5 time in the country in the 200 meters at 22.35 seconds to finish second. First-year Nisarg Dharia (Novi, Mich.) placed eighth in the 400, crossing in 52.24. In the 60 meters, first-year McKinley Polen (Los Altos, Calif.) finished in sixth place at 7.16 seconds.
- In the 800 meters, junior Ellery Rajagopal (Harrison, N.Y.) finished fifth overall and is ranked 18th in the country with a time of 1:58.42. Sophomore Matt Schofield (Shorewood, Ill.) placed ninth in the 800, crossing in 2:00.
- MIT had three runners in the top 10 of the 3,000 meters, led by first-year Lowell Hensgen (Raleigh, N.C.) in second at 8:45. Sophomore Andrew Mah (Newton, Mass.) placed fifth in 8:52.08, followed in 10th by sophomore Zach Johnson (La Crescenta, Calif.) in a time of 8:57.55.
- Sophomore Nick Duchatellier (Dix Hills, N.Y.) placed sixth in the 500 at 1:08.32, while sophomore Reed Foster (Palo Alto, Calif.) was ninth in the 1,000 and first-year Sam Acquaviva (Newburyport, Mass.) crossed in eighth in the mile. Foster ran 2:40.81 and Acquaviva posted a time of 4:25.99.
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
5. Benton Wilson - 22.35
800 Meters
18. Ellery Rajagopal - 1:58.42
60-Meter Hurdles
8. Kenneth Wei - 8.22
High Jump
2. Alec Reduker - 6' 10.25"
Pole Vault
17. Bobby Upton - 14' 7.25"
Long Jump
10. Yorai Shaoul - 23' 0.5"
15. Kenneth Wei - 22' 9.75"
Triple Jump
2. Alec Reduker - 48' 10.25"
3. Yorai Shaoul - 48' 4.75"
Weight Throw
8. Albert Menio – 56' 4"
UP NEXT:
- MIT is back in action on January 24 and 25 as the Engineers travel to Boston University for the John Thomas Terrier Classic, as well as hosting the Art Farnham Invitational on Saturday beginning at Noon.
STAY CONNECTED:
- For the latest on MIT Athletics, follow the Engineers via social media on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
