The Worcester State University men's track & field team began its 2017 outdoor season this past weekend as half of the team went south to the University of Richmond meet, and other stayed in Massachusetts and attended the Bridgewater State Bears Invitational.
At the University of Richmond Invitational, the team did quite well considering Worcester State was amongst some tough competition, as Division I and II schools were in attendance. As usual, Worcester State's Sam Weeks (Methuen, Mass.) had a big day and placed himself among the top nationwide in three events: shot put (15.83m), discus throw (48.20m), and hammer throw (48.82m). Marcus Vieira (Peabody, Mass.), Elmer Acuna (Newton, Mass.), Jacob Roumanos (Whitman, Mass.), Alexander Mandragouras (Newbury, Mass.), Anthony Christo (Peabody, Mass.), Taylor Clark (Whitinsville, Mass.), and Colin Ford (Middletown, R.I.) also competed in the throwing events in Richmond.
Freshman Edward Boamah (Worcester, Mass.) PR'ed in the triple jump (13.35m) on Friday, and then came back on Saturday with two additional conference leading performances in the long jump (6.29m) and the 400 Meter Dash (50.16). He also had a solid 200 Meter race (22.94), which is third overall in the conference.
Teammate Momodou Kabareh (Worcester, Mass.) led the way in the 200 Meter with a 22.79 for the conference leading time, despite a strong head wind on the final stretch..
Worcester State's 4x100 Meter relay ran well despite one handoff snafu on leg 2 to 3. They still ran a great time of 42.93. The relay consisted of Jalil Gibson (Lynn, Mass.), Charles Newman (Westfield, Mass.), Kabareh, and Phill Bynum (Peabody, Mass.).
Worcester State's middle distance crew ran well with sophomore Joseph Grider (Hopedale, Mass.) breaking the 2-minute barrier to set a positive tone in his first meet of the season. Several others followed close behind his effort.
Three Lancers ran the 10K and got solid times with the hope of qualifying for conference with their efforts.
"We had fun and competed well throughout the two-day meet," commented head coach Al Halper. "Hopefully we will do it again next year."
Despite the colder weather at the Bridgewater Invitational, there were a number of solid performances from Carlos Nieves (Clinton, Mass.), Andrew Valle (Stoughton, Mass.), Andre Ipojuca (Saugus, Mass.), Isaac Ofori (Webster, Mass.), Angel Martinez (Lawrence, Mass.), Curtis Boisvert (Mansfield, Mass.), and Ian Merry (W. Brookfield, Mass.).
Next week, the Lancers travel to Tufts for the Tufts Snowflake Classic.