The Amherst College men’s track and field team placed 12th overall in the 26-team, two-day Division III New England Championships hosted by MIT last Friday and Saturday, Feb. 19 and 20.

In the middle distance events, the purple and white put on an impressive performance, with first-year Kristian Sogaard claiming ninth place overall in the 600-meter run with a time of 1:23.36. Jesse Fajnzylber ’17 placed tenth overall in the 800-meter run (1:58.96). Finally, crossing the line in 2:39.33, Steven Lucey ’17 placed 14th place in the 1,000-meter run.

In an exciting performance by Kevin Connors ’17, the junior took third place in the 1-mile run with a time of 4:25.65. Clocking in at 8:33.90, standout cross-country runner Mohamed Hussein ’18 finished fifth in the 3,000-meter run to add to the purple and whites’ total score. Rounding out the distance events, senior captain Dan Crowley used a mark of 15:22.14 to claim tenth place in the 5,000-meter event.

The highlight of the day was the team’s success in the 4x800-meter relay, in which the team of Chris Butko ’18, Vernon Espinoza ’18, Sogaard and Brent Harrison ’17 claimed a first-place victory overall with a lightning-fast time of 7:48.46. Not only did the group win the race, but they also took down the DIII New England Championships meet record from 1984.

In the field events, senior Khalil Flemming took 39th overall in the long jump with a distance of 5.79 meters and 29th overall in the triple jump (12.70 meters). Finally, with a distance of 12.51 meters, Thomas Matthew ’16 placed 24th in the shot put event, and first-year Sam Amaka finished in 34th place (11.42 meters).

“Overall, the team did not perform as well as we would have wanted, but there were a few highlights,” Sogaard said. “Kevin Connors getting third in the mile was a good result from him, and there were a few personal bests from people like Jesse Fajnzylber in the 800-meter. We ended the day with a win in the 4x800-meter, which will hopefully help increase our confidence going into Open New England’s this coming Saturday. We should hopefully have some strong performances there.”

Amherst will travel to Boston University to compete in the NEICAAA Championship this Friday, Feb. 26.