Men's Track & Field Competes at Stanford and AIC
The Blue Devils placed fourth at the AIC Invitational on Saturday.
The Central Connecticut men's track and field team traveled to two competitions this weekend, the Stanford Invitational and the AIC Yellow Jacket Invitational. CCSU finished fourth as a team at the AIC Yellow Jacket Invitational on Sunday behind a first-place performance from junior Jamal Fruster and several other top-five finishes.
Two Blue Devils represented CCSU at Stanford University this weekend in Stanford, CA. Senior Craig Hunt raced the 10,000m while junior Brian Biekert ran the 3,000m steeplechase.
Hunt posted a new career-best time of 29:31.87 in the race, besting his previous personal record of 30:34.65. He placed 15th out of 25 runners in section two of the race.
Biekert, who set the CCSU program record in the 3,000m steeplechase last season (8:59.11), placed 14th in a field of 16. He crossed the finish line in section two of the steeplechase finals in a time of 9:08.68.
At the AIC Yellow Jacket Invitational, Fruster led CCSU with a gold-medal performance in the 400m dash. The junior qualified for the NEICAAA Championships with his time of 49.08 and was one of just three of the 68 sprinters to qualify in the event. Fruster was followed by freshman Zach Andrews in a career best time of 51.02 (10th), freshman Tommy Pytel (20th, 51.92) and junior Chris Savvidou (25th, 52.27).
Central also scored well in the 200m dash, claiming three of the top five spots in the race. Andrews was the first Blue Devil to cross the line in 22.52 for third place. The race was Andrews' first attempt at the 200m dash in his career. He was followed closely by sophomore Kendall Walker in fourth (22.61) and Pytel in fifth (22.68).
Walker claimed sixth in the 100m dash with his time of 11.97 in a field of 55, followed by freshman Elijah Amoah in 25th (11.56).
In the distance events, Central freshman Thomas Lupoli finished sixth in the 800m run with his time of 1:57.33. He was joined in the top ten by junior Joey Farrington, who finished ninth in 1:57.91.
In the 1,500m run, junior Patrick Hubbell raced a career-best time of 3:58.81, good for fourth place in the deep field of 84. Joining Hubbell in the top 25 were junior Andrew Hill (15th, 4:06.49) and sophomore Tyler Raymond who finished in a career-best time of 4:08.55, good for 23rd. Two freshmen rounded out CCSU's five runners in the race for their first collegiate outing in the 1,500m. Colin Sauter placed 39th of 84 with his time of 4:15.98 and was followed by Brendan Callahan in 41st (4:16.79).
CCSU claimed the bronze in both the 110m hurdles and the 400m hurdles. Junior Ryan Budd finished third in the 400m hurdles with his NEICAAA qualifying time of 55.99. He was followed by junior Jordan Watkins in fourth, who crossed the line in 57.77.
In the 110m hurdles, it was Watkins who claimed the bronze (15.01), followed by freshman Dan Baum who raced a career-best time of 15.56, good for seventh. Baum also competed in the 400m hurdles where he finished 10th in a career-best 59.74.
In the field events, junior Jamie Tobias finished sixth in the high jump, clearing a height of 1.83 meters while freshman David Gomes pole vaulted 3.70 meters.
Sophomore John Sudol leapt a career-best distance of 6.33 meters in the long jump event, registering 13th place of 49 jumpers. He was followed by freshmen Kwency Crittenden in 16th and Garrett Shaw in 35th.
Shaw also took sixth in the triple jump with a distance of 13.13m.
In the discus throw, sophomore Therin Scott registered a distance of 33.42m, good for 12th place. He was followed by freshman Zach Torro who threw for a career-best distance of 32.85m. In his first collegiate attempt at the hammer throw, Torro placed 20th with a distance of 33.04m.
Junior Michael Ficorilli also competed in the hammer, throwing for 38.08m in 15th place. He was also the only Blue Devil to compete in the men's shot put, finishing eighth of 36 with 13.37 meters.
Vermont claimed first place overall in the field of 20 teams with 109.50 points. UMass took second with 72.50, followed by Tufts with 66.50. CCSU earned fourth (66) and was followed by American International to round out the top five with 53.50 points.
The Blue Devils are set to return to action Saturday, April 12, at UMass and Bucknell.