The men’s track and field team traveled to the MIT track last Friday and Saturday on a beautiful weekend in Cambridge. The team got a feel for the mondo-surface track lying in the midst of the city, abutting the Charles River, as MIT hosted the Division III New England championships this weekend and will host the team again this coming Saturday for the competitive NEICAAA meet.

Highlighting the day was Kevin Connors ’17, who earned the top finish for the Jeffs, coming in second in the competitive 1,500-meter race. He ran a time of 3:53.35. Senior captain Greg Turissini followed, placing fifth with a time of 3:55.87.

Other top performances included Brent Harrison ’16, who ran his way to a third-place showing in the 800 meters, and a new personal best with a time of 1:53.77. Romey Sklar ’15 ran a 1:54.56 in the event, placing 10th, while Steven Lucey ’17 took 28th.

In the triple jump, Khalil Flemming ’16 was the purple and white’s sole field representative. He came in 12th with a jump of 43’ 9.25”, a season best.

The sophomore hurdle duo of Nathan Showalter and Jamie Sandel split up the hurdle events, with Showalter taking on the 110 hurdles and Sandel gritting through the 400 hurdles. Showalter claimed a 17.88 time, putting him in 21st place. It was an impressive finish at this competitive meet, especially considering that it was the sophomore’s first collegiate outdoor season. Sandel ran a time of 56.33 in the longer hurdle event, very close to the PR of 56.11 he ran the previous week.

In the lengthiest event ran on the track, first-year Justin Barry took on the 10K, placing 12th with a time of 32:42.79.

Thomas Matthew ’16 was the sole short sprint representative at the meet, running a time of 23.42 in the 200 meters to place 21st.

Capping off the day, the Amherst men had two relay teams. The 4x800 run by Connors, Peter Horton ’18, Jack Wesley ’18 and Lucey came in 12th in 3:27.13. The men’s 4x400 relay team consisting of Harrison, Matthew, Sandel and Harrison Haigood ’18 placed 13th with a time of 3:27.13.

Next weekend the men’s team will return to MIT for the NEICAAA championships, an extremely competitive meet in which all divisions compete against one another.