The men’s track and field team made the trip to Medford on Saturday, Feb. 4 to compete at the Tufts Cupid Challenge, hosted by NESCAC rival Tufts. The purple and white enjoyed a successful day, as many athletes secured qualifying standards for the New England DIII Championships, which will be held at Tufts in two weeks.

The meet began with the first section of the men’s 5,000-meter run, where Tucker Meijer ’19 placed fifth in a personal best time of 15:25 with teammate Justin Barry ’18 just a step behind him, also recording a personal best time of 15:25. With their performances, both qualified for the New England DIII Championships.

Theo Bates ’20 and Maxim Doiron ’19 both qualified for the 60-meter hurdles final for the second straight week, running times of 8.71 and 8.83 seconds, respectively. In the 60-meter dash, first-years Elijah Ngbokoli and Biafra Okoronkwo qualified for the finals, placing fourth and seventh, respectively. With a time of 7.17 seconds, Ngbokoli qualified for the New England DIII Championships.

Cosmo Brossy ’19 ran in the second and faster section of the men’s 5,000-meter run, finishing seventh in a competitive heat. Brossy ran a time of 15:05, which qualified him for the New England Division III Championships as well as Open New Englands. Brossy was only three seconds off his personal best time of 15:02, which he ran at the conclusion of his spring track season in 2016, indicating his stellar form going into the postseason.

Kristian Sogaard ’19 continued his strong season by placing second in the mile with a personal best time of 4:17. With this excellent run, he qualified for the New England DIII Championships as well as Open New Englands to join Brossy.

Juniors David Ingraham and Harrison Haigood placed fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 400-meter dash. Ingraham set a seasonal best with a time of 52.24 seconds and Haigood set a personal best with a time of 52.31 seconds.

The sophomore middle-distance duo of Vernon Espinoza and Ermias Kebede placed second and fifth in the 600-meter event, running times of 1:23 and 1:25, respectively. While Open New England meet does not have the 600 meters as an event, Espinoza’s performance qualifies him for the 500-meter run at Open New Englands.

The purple and white first-years led the 1,000-meter run, as Ralph Skinner, Spencer Ferguson-Dryden and Estevan Velez placed fourth, fifth and eighth, respectively. Skinner and Ferguson-Dryden ran times of 2:32 and 2:33, respectively, qualifying both for the New England DIII Championships.

In the 200-meter dash, Ngbokoli placed fourth in a time of 23.27 seconds, his second qualifying performance for the New England DIII Championships of the day.

Senior Kevin Connors won the 3,000-meter run in a time of 8:34, continuing his successful indoor season. With his victory, Connors qualified for both the New England DIII Championships and Open New Englands.

The purple and white dominated the 4x400 and 4x800 meet-concluding relays. The 4x400-meter relay, composed of Kebede, Espinoza, Ingraham and Jay Drain ’18, won with a time of 3:31. The Amherst middle-distance runners then returned for the 4x800-meter relay, a historically successful relay for the purple and white. First-years Skinner and Ferguson-Dryden ran the first two legs of the relay, and Connors and Sogaard extended the lead the first-years created to win the event in a time of 8:01 over the Jumbos of Tufts.

In the field events, Bates continued his successful day and long jumped 5.93 meters to place first in his flight and seventh overall. Sam Amaka ’19 had a stellar day in the throws, placing fourth in the shot put and third in the weight throw with a throw of 15.46 meters, qualifying him for the New England DIII Championships.

“It’s great seeing people step up in their respective events as we get closer to championship season,” Ermias Kebede ’19 said.
Next Saturday, Feb. 10, the purple and white will travel to Boston University to compete at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational, their last regular season meet of the season. The meet presents a great opportunity for the purple and white to secure qualifying marks to compete in postseason competitions and set personal best times.