The Massachusetts men’s track and field team started its outdoor season with momentum, as the Minutemen took first place out of 18 teams in the American International College Invitational in the first meet of the season on Saturday.
UMass scored a total of 101 points, with Central Connecticut finishing second with 86 points.
In the 20 different events of the meet, the Minutemen finished in the top eight 26 times, with 17 of those finishes in the top five. The running events in particular were a strength for the squad, scoring at least two points in every event they competed in except one.
Stephen Bigelow led UMass in points for the running events, scoring 10 points in a first place finish in the 110 meter hurdles. Despite the Minutemen’s winning effort, Bigelow was the only solo player who finished first in any event. Patrick Farnham contributed eight points of his own with a fourth place finish in the 100 meter dash (11.23 seconds) and a sixth place finish in the 200 meter dash (22.86 seconds).
As for the field events, Gregory Copeland carried the most points individually with nine, with eight coming from a second place finish in the pole vault, jumping 14 feet, 5.25 inches.
Minutewomen dominate, grab first place
The men’s side wasn’t the only team that found success at the AIC Invitational, as the women’s team steamrolled its way to first place by scoring 213 points, 124 more points than second place AIC.
In the outdoor season opener, the Minutewomen scrapped out 46 top eight finishes in track and field events, and found themselves in the top three 16 different times.
UMass dominated in the javelin throw, as Rachelle Bourque, Kelsey Crawford and Emma Robinson finished 1-2-3 in the event, with Emily Louis finishing sixth.
UMass racked up a total of 27 points in the event, which surpassed seven of the 16 teams’ total scoring output in the entire meet.
The shot put was another bright sign, tallying 19 points off four top 10 showings. Nalis Mbianda took second in the event, while Crawford took third.
Both the men’s and women’s teams will compete in Saturday’s Minutemen Invitational, which will be held in Amherst.
Tom Mulherin can be reached at [email protected]
