CCSU Competes at Yale; Watkins Breaks 60m H Record
Junior Jordan Watkins bested his own 60m hurdles record by one hundredth of a second.
The Central Connecticut men's track and field team opened 2014 at the Yale Invitational Saturday and were led by junior Jordan Watkins. Watkins placed second in the 60m hurdles finals with his time of 8.26, besting his own CCSU record of 8.27.
Senior Craig Hunt also had an impressive performance. The defending NEC Indoor Champion in the 3,000m placed first overall in the event with his time of 8:33.29.
The Blue Devils performed well overall in the one mile run. Sophomore Matt Walker claimed third place with his career-best time of 4:26.62. Walker was followed closely by freshman Tyler Raymond (7th, 4:29.01). Central also added Thomas Lupoli and Derek French in the race. The two freshman finished back-to-back in 17th (4:40.53) and 18th (4:40.82), respectively.
In the 4x400m relay, CCSU crossed the finish line eighth out of 23 squads. The team, consisting of sophomore Malcolm Connor, junior Ryan Budd as well as freshmen Kendall Walker and Tommy Pytel, finished in 3:26.81.
Budd also competed in the 400m dash where he finished 16th of 64 runners with his career-best time of 51:39. Budd was followed by Pytel (18th, 51.42), freshman Will Ribiero (26th, 52.37) and sophomore Brian Beckwith (31st, 52.78).
In the high jump, junior Jamie Tobias finished fifth overall, clearing a height of 1.89m.
Junior Michael Ficorilli placed ninth in the weight throw with a toss of 14.03m. He also placed 16th in the shot put in a field of 31, registering a distance of 13.22m.
Other notable field performances include freshman Kwency Crittenden who placed seventh in the triple jump with his distance of 13.38, and sophomore John Sudol who finished 16th of 28 in the long jump with his distance of 6.04m.
The Blue Devils are set to return to action Friday, Jan. 17 at the Great Dane Classic.