Bates men’s track and field gets in good prep work for New Englands
 |
 |
 |
| (From top) Jerome Bennett ’09, Mike Canova ’08 and Emmanuel Drabo ’08 were among Bates’ standouts. |
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Bates College junior Andrew Tibbetts (Dedham, Mass.), sophomore Will Viti (Westwood, Mass.) and first-year Jerome Bennett (Chicago) all took first place in the non-scoring MIT Coed Invitational on Saturday, capping a very strong weekend in the Boston area for the men’s track and field team.
Tibbetts won the 600 meters in 1:26.92. Viti won the 1,000 in 2:52.02 for his first collegiate win. And Bennett won the pole vault in 13-6.
Parts of the Bates team competed in the Valentine’s Day Invitational on Saturday at Boston University, against top track and field athletes from every division across the Northeast. Bates’ 4×400 relay team of senior Adam Macbeth (Ellsworth, Maine), senior Joel Colony (Harrisville, N.H.), junior Matt Capone (Auburn, Maine) and junior Sam Thomas (Richmond, Va.) just missed the provisional NCAA qualifying time with 3:20.03.
Other standouts for Bates at BU were Matt Biggart clocking in 8:55 in the 3,000, Capone running a season-best 200 in 22.90 seconds, Mike Watson covering 800 meters in 1:59.79, and Noah Gauthier tossing the shot put at a season-best distance, and the 35-pound weight over 55 feet.
At MIT, other marked Bates performers included:
- William Kenney placing second in the 5,000 in 15:59.86
- Emmanuel Drabo placing fourth in the triple jump (44-5)
- Matt Lopez placing second in the weight throw (46-8) and fourth in the shot put (41-4).
- Mike Canova placing third in the high jump with a personal-best 6-2.
Bates competes at the New England Division III indoor championships next weekend at MIT.