No. 10 Men's Track and Field Soars to New England D3 Indoor Championship

THE BASICS:

- Location: Springfield College Fieldhouse (Springfield, Mass.)

- The Lead: Led by seven event wins and 29 All-New England performances, the No. 10 ranked MIT men's track and field team claimed the 2020 New England Division III Indoor Track and Field Championship on Saturday. The Engineers finished with a total of 171 points to defeat No. 5 ranked Williams by a 67-point margin.

HOW IT HAPPENED ON FRIDAY:

- MIT earned 13 points in the pole vault behind the runner-up performance from senior Bobby Upton (Wexford, Pa.) as he cleared 15 feet, 5 inches to tie with Ryan Durkin of Bowdoin. First-year Bryan Sperry (San Diego, Calif.) was the top rookie finisher in fourth at 14 feet, 11 inches, while junior Max Hardy (Houston, Texas) placed eighth at 14 feet, 5.25 inches. Junior Everett Brandyberry (Hill City, Kan.) finished 10th as he cleared 13 feet, 11.25 inches.

- In the distance medley relay, the team of sophomore Ryan Wilson (Redwood City, Calif.), first-year Nisarg Dharia (Novi, Mich.), junior Ellery Rajagopal (Harrison, N.Y.) and sophomore Matthew Kearney (Austin, Texas) finished fifth in 10:23.96 to earn four points. This time marks nearly a 14-second improvement from MIT's previous top DMR time of the season.

- Five Engineers were competing between the two heats of the 5,000 meters. Senior Steven Goldy (Centennial, Colo.), sophomore Zach Johnson (La Crescenta, Calif.) and junior Finn Jacobson-Schulte (Lakeville, Minn.) were all in the first heat and it was Goldy who led the way in fifth at 15:20.88. Johnson crossed in 11th in a time of 15:43.76, followed by Jacobson-Schulte in 13th at 15:49.71.

- In heat two of the 5K, sophomore Andrew Mah (Newton, Mass.) placed fourth in 14:50.22 as he was followed in fifth by first-year Lowell Hensgen (Raleigh, N.C.) in a time of 15:02.62. Overall, the Engineers earned nine points in the 5K.

- MIT headed into Saturday with 26 points, trailing No. 5 Williams by just two points.

HOW IT HAPPENED ON SATURDAY:

- Senior Alec Reduker (Newburyport, Mass.) became the first MIT high jumper to ever clear seven feet indoors as he won the event with a clearance of seven feet, 1.5 inches. The mark is the top jump in the country and breaks the previous MIT mark by 2.75 inches. Senior Chris Washington (Frisco, Texas) placed second at six feet, 9.5 inches and first-year Steven Marquez (El Centro, Calif.) finished fourth at six feet, 5.5 inches. Overall, the Engineers earned 23 points in the high jump.

- First-year Kenneth Wei (Mt. Sinai, N.Y.) led a 1-2-3 sweep for the Engineers in the long jump as MIT earned 24 points in the event. Wei won the event with a jump of 23 feet 7.25 inches as Reduker was second at 23 feet, 6.75 inches and junior Yorai Shaoul (Raanana, Israel) placed third at 23 feet, 2.5 inches. Reduker moved into 11th nationally as all three jumpers are ranked among the top 17.

- Wei followed that with a win in the 60-meter hurdles, running an MIT varsity and rookie record time of 8.10 seconds to earn another 10 points. He is ranked sixth in the country.

- Shaoul, Reduker and Wei all scored in the triple jump as well as the trio combined for 21 points. Shaoul won the event for the third straight season with a leap of 48 feet, 0.75 inches. Reduker was third at 47 feet, 8.5 inches and Wei placed fourth at 46 feet, eight inches. All three have solidified their spots at Nationals as they are all ranked among the top eight in the country.

- First-year McKinley Polen (Los Altos, Calif.) ran a time of 7.00 seconds in the prelims of the 60 meters, followed by a time of 6.96 seconds in the finals as he placed third overall while setting the MIT varsity and rookie record.

- Junior Benton Wilson (Dublin, Ohio) captured the 400 meters in a time of 49.72 seconds as sophomore Nick Duchatellier (Dix Hills, N.Y.) was second in 50.07 seconds. Wilson was also fourth in the 200 meters as he crossed in 22.40 seconds.

- Wilson was also the anchor of the victorious 4x400 meter relay team in one of the final running events of the meet as Duchatellier, Dharia, sophomore Andrew Shao (San Jose, Calif.) and Wilson won the event in a time of 3:21.57 as the Engineers came in as the top seed.

- In the 4x800 relay, the team of Rajagopal, sophomore Aiden Foucault-Etheridge (Leverett, Mass.), sophomore Reed Foster (Palo Alto, Calif.) and Ryan Wilson (Redwood City, Calif.) finished third as the Engineers crossed in 8:03.06 to improve by 21.5 seconds on their seed time. Foucault-Etheridge also earned two points by placing seventh in the 800 meters with a final time of 1:56.81.

- Ryan Wilson came into the 1,000 meters as the top seed and won the event as he ran a time of 2:29.39 to earn the victory.

- In the weight throw, MIT picked up 13 points as sophomore Ryan Nall (Lafayette, Calif.), senior Albert Menio (East Stroudsburg, Pa.) and sophomore Nathan Basinger (Dalton, Ohio) each finished within the top six. Nall was third at 58 feet, 9.25 inches, followed by Menio in fifth in 54 feet, 3.25 inches and Basinger at sixth with a throw of 52 feet, 8.75 inches.

- Nall earned a point with an eighth-place finish in the shot put with a throw of 46 feet, eight inches as he was followed in 10th by first-year Henry Sobieszczyk (Newton, Mass.) at 45 feet, 5.25 inches and Basinger in 13th with a distance of 44 feet, 5.25 inches. Nall is now ranked 16th nationally with that mark.

- In the 3,000 meters, Kearney was 11th with a time of 8:47.45 as first-year Sam Acquaviva (Newburyport, Mass.) was right behind in 12th at 8:47.56. Hensgen finished 16th in the event as he crossed in 8:57.36.

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.

60-Meter Hurdles
6. Kenneth Wei - 8.10

5,000 Meters
14. Andrew Mah - 14:38.74

High Jump
1. Alec Reduker – 7' 1.5"
10. Chris Washington - 6' 9.5"

Pole Vault
17. Bobby Upton - 15' 9"

Long Jump
10. Kenneth Wei - 23' 8.25"
11. Alec Reduker - 23' 6.75"
17. Yorai Shaoul - 23' 2.75"

Triple Jump
5. Alec Reduker - 48' 10.25"
6. Yorai Shaoul - 48' 9"
8. Kenneth Wei - 48' 2"

Weight Throw
16. Ryan Nall - 58' 9.25"

UP NEXT:

- MIT has one meet remaining prior to Nationals as the Engineers will travel to the Tufts Final Qualifier on Saturday, March 7th in Medford, Mass.

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