PROVIDENCE, R.I. and DURHAM, N.H. – The Maine men's track and field team had a busy weekend, with several long-distance runners competing at the Ocean State Invitational on Friday, before the whole team traveled to UNH for the Wildcat Invitational on Saturday. The Black Bears finished third at the UNH meet, earning 158.50 total points.
At Providence, the Black Bears boasted three runners in the mile run and one in the 5000m run.
Aaron Willingham had the highest finish of the day, taking sixth among 21 runners in the 5000m. His time was a new personal-best and met IC4A qualifying standards at 14:32.94. The time marks the fifth-best in program history.
Of the three runners in the mile,
Jacob Johns finished a team-best 15
th with a time of 4:13.49. The time also met IC4A qualifications.
Logan Moses grabbed 39
th (4:21.34) while
John Hassett took 51
st (4:27.67) out of the 63 competitors in the event.
On Saturday at Reggie Atkins Track and Field Facility,
Mozai Nelson and
Elijah White each won two individual events to lead the Black Bears.
Nelson grabbed wins in both the 100m (11.03) and 200m dash (22.27), along with serving as the opening leg of the first-place 4x100 relay team (Nelson,
Benjamin Davis,
Elijah Yeboah, and
Isaac Yeboah), who recorded an IC4A qualifying standard time of 42.20. Nelson was also the final leg of the third-place 4x400 relay team (3:27.27), which also featured
Branden Kuusela, E. Yeboah, I. Yeboah. In total, Nelson contributed 18 points as an individual and 15 as part of relays for 33 cumulative points on the day.
White took victories in both the long jump and triple jump, recording distances of 6.85m and 14.25m, respectively. The mark of 14.25m marks the eighth best triple jump in program history.
Elijah Yeboah rounds out the Maine first-place finishers, registering a time of 55.79 in the 400m hurdles for nine team points.
Dylan Smith followed White in the long jump, with a distance of 6.39m to finish as the runner-up in the event. Brandon Kuusela (400m hurdles, 57.36),
Troy Davis (1.95m, high jump),
Alecsander Wortman (pole vault, 4.40m),
Adam Lufkin (discus, 46.77m), and
Isaiah Allen (javelin, 50.35m) all picked up Maine seven points respectively by earning second-place finishes in their respective events.
Other top-performers included Hassett (3
rd, 800m, 1:56.10), Jacobs (4
th, 800m, 1:56.61), Lufkin (4
th, shot put, 14.83m),
Andrew Smith (5
th, 200m, 23.32),
Andrew Clement (5
th, 400m, 52.51), Kuusela (5
th, 110m hurdles, 16.49), Sam Bonnevie (5
th, pole vault, 3.95m), and Alex Danner (5
th, javelin, 46.06m).
Host New Hampshire won the meet with 184 points, while Bates was the runner-up with 165.50 points. Southern Maine rounded out the teams out with 121 points.
The Black Bears are back in action next week at the Holy Cross Decathlon on Wednesday and Thursday along with the Holy Cross Invitational over the weekend in Worcester, Massachusetts.
-UMaine-
