Alston, Putman Lead Men's Track and Field at David Hemery Valentine Invitational Saturday
The CCSU men's indoor track and field team competes next at the NEC Championships on Feb. 19-20 at the Ocean Breeze Complex in Staten Island, NY.
The Central Connecticut men's track and field team competed at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational hosted by Boston University inside the BU Track and Tennis Center on Saturday. Freshman Edwin Alston led the Blue Devils on the track while sophomore Dashawn Putman recorded the best finish for CCSU in the field events.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
Alston shaved .01 seconds off his previous personal-best time in the 60 meter hurdles on Saturday on his way to a 10th place finish out of 79 runners in the event. The rookie's career-best time bumps him up to tied for 10th on the NEICAAA performance list and tied for 27th on the IC4A performance list.
Putman became the second Blue Devil to qualify for the New England Championships in the high jump as the sophomore cleared 2.00 meters at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational. The clearance was a season-best for Putman and earned him a second place finish in the event. The mark also slots him tied for 11th on the NEICAAA high jump list.
Tyler Latham ran a season-best in the 200 meter dash en route to qualifying for the New England Championships and IC4A Championships. The sophomore crossed the finish line with a time of 22.24 to earn a 44th place finish out of 211 competitors in the event. Junior Kendall Walker joined Latham in the 200 meter and finished right behind him in 58th place with a time of 22.40.
Junior Zach Andrews recorded a season-best and New England Championship qualifying time in the 400 meter dash for CCSU. Andrews clocked in a time 49.78 to earn a 65th place finish out of 195 runners in the race.
Richard Grudzwick turned in a new personal-best time of 1:05.88 in the 500 meter run on Saturday. The time earned the junior a 14th place finish out of 59 in the event. Classmate Will Ribeiro also competed in the 500 meter run registering a 36th place finish with a time of 1:07.75.
In the 800 meter run, freshman Adonys Langual recorded a collegiate-best time on his way to picking up a 148th place finish out of 246 in the event. The rookie crossed the finish line at the 1:58.48 mark to clock in the personal-best time.
Sophomore Austin Trainor ran a new career-best time in the men's mile of 4:11.39. The time was over four seconds faster than his previous career-best time and earned him a 42nd place result out 320 competitors in the event. The time moved his up to 24th on the NEICAAA performance list and also qualified him to compete at the IC4A Championships. He currently sits 73rd out of 132 on that performance list.
Senior Matt Walker registered yet another personal-best time for the Blue Devils at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational on Saturday. Walker crossed the finish line in the 3,000 meter run with a time of 8:36.58 to post the collegiate-best time and a 76th place finish out of 159 in the distance race.
Zach Torro registered the best finish for the Blue Devils in the throwing events. The sophomore picked up a 20th place finish in the shot put after launching it to 13.23 meters.
The CCSU men's indoor track and field team will return to action next as they compete in the Northeast Conference Championships, Feb. 19-20. The Blue Devils, who finished runner-up at NEC's last season to LIU Brooklyn, will look to return to the top of the podium as the championships change venues to the Ocean Breeze Complex in Staten Island, NY for the first time in league history.