THE BASICS:
- Locations: Johnson Athletic Center Track (Cambridge, Mass.) and the BU Tennis and Track Center (Boston, Mass.)
- The Lead: Over the weekend, the No. 5 ranked MIT men's track and field team competed at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational at Boston University and the Gordon Kelly Invitational at MIT. The Engineers notched five top-20 nationally-ranked marks at BU and picked up five event wins and an MIT school record at the Gordon Kelly meet.
HOW IT HAPPENED AT BU:
- First-year Kenneth Wei (Mt. Sinai, N.Y.) continued his outstanding rookie season as he moved into seventh on the national triple jump list with a jump of 48 feet, two inches. He finished first in his flight and was seventh overall. Wei is now ranked in the top-10 nationally in the 60-meter hurdles, long jump and triple jump. At BU, Wei also competed in the 60-meter invitational hurdles, placing fourth in his heat in 8.14 and fifth in the finals at 8.18.
- Senior Alec Reduker (Newburyport, Mass.) and junior Yorai Shaoul (Raanana, Israel) tied for fifth in their flight of the long jump with identical jumps of 23 feet, 2.75 inches. They are now tied for 14th nationally. Senior Chris Washington (Frisco, Texas) moved into 12th nationally in the high jump as he was first in his flight and second overall with a clearance of six feet, 8.75 inches.
- Sophomore Andrew Mah (Newton, Mass.) captured his heat of 5,000 meters on Saturday evening with a time of 14:29.43. He finished 31st overall in the event and is ranked 14th in the country. In the previous event, sophomore Matthew Kearney (Austin, Texas) finished sixth in his heat of the 3,000 meters with a time of 8:28.82.
- In the 1,000 meters, sophomore Ryan Wilson (Redwood City, Calif.) won his heat and was 18th overall in a time of 2:26.61 that was just .42 seconds off the MIT varsity record. Reed Foster finished 10 in his heat of the 1,000, crossing in 2:35.17.
- Junior Benton Wilson (Dublin, Ohio) won his heat of the 200 and was 29th overall in 21.93. Wilson also placed fifth in his heat of the 400 meters at 49.71 seconds. Sophomore Nick Duchatellier (Dix Hills, N.Y.) is ranked 45th nationally and was second in his heat in a time of 49.44 seconds. First-year Nisarg Dharia (Novi, Mich.) was second in his heat as well, running 51.16.
- Sophomore Aiden Foucault Etheridge (Leverett, Mass.) was seventh in his heat of the 800 meters, running 1:56.81.
- MIT also had four runners in the unseeded 5K and 3K, including three in the 5K. First-year Lowell Hensgen (Raleigh, N.C.) was first in his heat and fourth overall in 14:56.28. Senior Steven Goldy (Centennial, Colo.) and junior Finn Jacobson-Schulte (Lakeville, Minn.) each placed 14th in their heats in times of 15:13.82 and 15:14.57, respectively. In the 3K, first-year Sam Acquaviva (Newburyport, Mass.) finished ninth in his heat and 22nd overall in 8:40.24.
HOW IT HAPPENED AT THE GORDON KELLY INVITATIONAL:
- First-year McKinley Polen (Los Altos, Calif.) won both the 60 meters and 200 meters to lead the Engineers in their second home meet of the indoor season. Polen tied the MIT record in the 60 with a time of 6.99 seconds, besting his own rookie record of 7.07 and tying the school record by Josh Duncavage from 2012. Polen won the 200 in 23.10, while sophomore Andrew Shao (San Jose, Calif.) was second in 23.12 seconds. Shao was also fifth in the 60 with a time of 7.35 seconds. Polen is also 33rd nationally with his 60-meter time.
- Senior Bobby Upton (Wexford, Pa.) led three Engineers in the top five of the pole vault as he won the event by clearing 15 feet, five inches. First-year Bryan Sperry (San Diego, Calif.) was second at 14 feet, 5.25 inches, followed by junior Everett Brandyberry (Hill City, Kan.) in fifth at 13 feet, 11.25 inches.
- First-year Vedang Lad (Plainsboro, N.J.) won the 3,000 meters in 9:04.57 and senior Billy Woltz (Logan, Ohio) placed fourth with a time of 9:15.40. Junior Kent Slaney (Palo Alto, Calif.) captured the 1,000 meters in 2:37.12 and first-year Evan Schaefer (Frederick, Md.) was second in the 600 in 1:28.24. In addition, junior Joachim Kennedy (Nashville, Tenn.) finished third in the 60-meter hurdles in a time of 8.99 seconds and was fourth in the long jump at 20 feet, 8.5 inches.
- Sophomore Ryan Nall (Lafayette, Calif.) finished second in the weight throw with a toss of 57 feet, 4.25 inches. Senior Albert Menio (East Stroudsburg, Pa.) was right behind him in third with a throw of 56 feet, 10 inches. Nall led three Engineers in the top five of the shot put, finishing third at 46 feet, 0.75 inches. First-year Henry Sobieszczyk (Newton, Mass.) was fourth at 46 feet even, followed by sophomore Nathan Basinger (Dalton, Ohio) in fifth with a distance of 45 feet, eight inches.
- In the high jump, first-year Steven Marquez (El Centro, Calif.) was fourth with a clearance of six feet, 2.75 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.
200 Meters
17. Benton Wilson - 22.27
60-Meter Hurdles
7. Kenneth Wei - 8.12
5,000 Meters
14. Andrew Mah - 14:38.74
4x400 Relay
20. Nisarg Dharia, Nick Duchatellier, Andrew Shao, Benton Wilson - 3:22.32
High Jump
4. Alec Reduker - 6' 10.25"
12. Chris Washington - 6' 8.75"
Pole Vault
12. Bobby Upton - 15' 9"
Long Jump
6. Kenneth Wei - 23' 8.25"
14. Alec Reduker - 23' 2.75"
14. Yorai Shaoul - 23' 2.75"
Triple Jump
4. Alec Reduker - 48' 10.25"
5. Yorai Shaoul - 48' 9"
6. Kenneth Wei - 48' 2"
Weight Throw
20. Ryan Nall - 57' 4.75"
UP NEXT:
- MIT is back in action next weekend as the Engineers travel to the Springfield College Invitational on Saturday, February 22nd. That meet is slated for an 11 a.m. start.
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