Men’s track and field opens outdoor season third at Snowflake Classic
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McNeil |
Murtagh |
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Drabo |
Watson |
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Quinn |
Lopez |
MEDFORD, Mass. — The Bates College men’s track and field team had a strong start to the 2008 outdoor season Saturday at the Tufts University Snowflake Classic. The Bobcats scored 102 points to place third out of 14 teams at the meet, behind only Dartmouth and Tufts.
“I was very happy with the performances across the board given the cold, windy conditions and it being our first time outdoors this season,” said Bates interim head coach Matthew Capone. “We have a lot to be excited about.”
Highlights for Bates included:
- Sophomore Rich McNeil (Lawrence, Mass.) picked up where he left off in the indoor season with second place in both the shot put and the discus throw to go with fourth place in the hammer throw. McNeil qualified for the New England Division III, ECAC Division III and Open New Englands outdoor championships in both the hammer and the discus.
- First-year Christopher Murtagh (Rowley, Mass.) finished second out of 28 competitors in the javelin throw (172-00), to go with eighth place finishes in both the discus and the hammer throw.
- Senior captain Emmanuel Drabo (Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso) took first place out of only three competitors in the triple jump, with a top jump of 44’08.00″. Drabo was also eighth in the long jump at 19’03.50″.
- Junior Michael Watson (Mansfield, Mass.) placed second out of 36 runners in the 800 meters with a time of 2:04.34, while sophomore Griffin Stabler (Keene, N.H.) was seventh in the 1,500 and eighth in the 800.
- First-year sprinter Ryan Quinn (Watertown, Mass.) placed fifth in the 100 meters (11.62 seconds) and fourth in the 200 (23.19 seconds), qualifying for the NESCAC Championships in both.
- Senior Matthew Lopez (Lexington, Mass.) was sixth in both the shot put and the hammer.
- First-year Brett Epler (Wellesley, Mass.) placed fifth out of 32 competitors in the 400 meters, with a time of 52.75 seconds.
- Bates took the second and fourth spots in the 10,000-meter run, with sophomore Doug Brecher (Waban, Mass.) placing second in 31:38.35 and senior Matt Dunlap (Farmington, Maine) coming in fourth in 32:37.15. Junior Dillon Tung (South Pasadena, Calif.) and senior Will Viti (Westwood, Mass.) were seventh and 12th. All four Bobcats in the 10,000 recorded personal bests.
- Sophomores Peter Garber (Short Hills, N.J.) and Nicolas DeFrancis (Norwich, Vt.) tied for sixth place in the pole vault, both topping out at 11’05.75″.
Bates next competes at the Jim Sheehan Memorial Meet at Fitchburg State College on Saturday, April 5 starting at 11 a.m.