The Mammoths kicked off the outdoor track and field season at the Tufts Snowflake Classic, in preparation for the NESCAC Championships to be held during the last weekend of April. Several members of the 4x400 and distance medley relays that qualified for indoor nationals did not compete, choosing to prepare for a long outdoor season.

The day started with the 10,000 meters, a 25-lap race in which Tucker Meijer ’19 and Jamie Mazzola ’21 worked together for the first four miles at a more relaxed pace, before separating over the final two miles. Meijer had a stellar day, clicking off consistent splits over the last two miles to catch several runners and place fifth in a new personal best time of 32:17, qualifying him for both the DIII New England and Open New England meets.

Behind him, Mazzola finished 10th in a time of 33:09, qualifying him for the DIII New England meet. Clark Ricciardelli ’20E ran the first four miles of the race at 5:00 mile pace before dropping out, as the cross country All-American has not raced since the Little III Championship meet. However, Ricciardelli will race at the Sam Howell Invitational on Friday at Princeton.

In the 110-meter hurdles, Maxim Doiron ’19 just missed the finals, placing ninth in a time of 16.68 seconds. Teammate Yonas Shiferaw ’20 placed 17th in a time of 17.79 seconds.

Next on the track for the Mammoths was the 1,500-meter run, a distance 109 meters short of a full mile.

In his first race since the DIII Indoor National Championships, Cosmo Brossy ’19 placed second in a time of 4:02, a time not indicative of the junior’s fitness, as the race went out at a pedestrian 70 seconds.

Behind him, the Mammoths had a stellar day, as Estevan Velez ’20 passed several runners in the last 200 meters of the race to finish sixth in a time of 4:07. Shortly after him, the trio of Jack Malague ’19, Jacob Silverman ’19 and Spencer Ferguson-Dryden ’20 placed eighth, ninth and 10th, respectively. All three used stellar last laps to pass several runners.

In the 400-meter dash, sophomore Stanley Dunwell had an excellent race, placing fourth to set a new personal best in a time of 50.54 seconds. Captain Harrison Haigood ’18 placed 12th with a time of 51.21 seconds.

In a display of Amherst’s 400-meter depth, Kyland Smith ’21 covered the one-lap race in a time of 52.54 seconds and Brad Besson ’20 ran a time of 53.98 seconds.

In his first ever 400-meter hurdles race, Jay Drain ’18 ran a time of 59.74 seconds, and Andrew Swenson ’21 wasn’t far behind, finishing 1:00.85. Jack Dufton ’20 added to the Mammoths’ success in the event, running a time of 1:01.93.

In the 200-meter dash, Dunwell continued his stellar day, placing 12th in a time of 22.85 seconds. Haigood and Besson returned to the track and ran the event in 23.18 seconds and 24.15 seconds, respectively.

“I still feel like I have room to get better which is a really good feeling to have,” Dunwell said. “The team has an amazing spirit during the meet that makes it so fun to be around. We’re becoming like a family and the team did really well, so other teams better watch out.”

In his first ever collegiate 5,000-meter race Billy Massey ’21 had a great race, steadily passing runners throughout the race to finish in a time of 15:35 and place seventh. Classmate Braxton Schuldt ’21 wasn’t far behind in a time of 15:46, just ahead of Justin Barry ’18 who ran a time of 15:48 for the 12.5-lap race.

“I went in there with very little goals or expectations,” Massey said. “Starting off towards the back, I just decided I would catch and pass at least one person every lap until I hit a pace that felt solid.”

In the field, Jordan Edwards ’20 triple-jumped a distance of 13.33 meters (43’ 9”) to place fourth, while Wisdom Yevudza ’19 threw 7.12 meters (23’ 4.5”) in the shot put.

This weekend, Brossy and Ricciardelli will travel to Princeton for the Sam Howell Invitational in search of a fast 5,000-meter race. For the rest of the team, on Saturday, the Mammoths will host their only home meet, the Amherst Spring Fling at Pratt Field. Field events start at 10 a.m. with the men’s hammer throw, and track events begin at 11:30 a.m. with the men’s steeplechase.