Men's Track And Field Set To Host Pre-Conference Meet On Saturday

About The Meet
- The Minutemen will have one final tune-up before next week's Atlantic 10 Championships, hosting their final home meet of the 2018 season at the UMass Track & Field Complex this Saturday, the UMass Pre-Conference meet. UMass will be joined by Dartmouth, UMass Lowell, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.
- The meet will begin with field events at 10:30 a.m. Track events will get under way with the 4x100 meter relay at 11:30 a.m. The Minutemen's seniors will be honored following the meet with a senior ceremony on the track.

Last Time Out
- Last week was a busy week for the Minutemen, competing at the Holy Cross Multi-Event Meet, the Larry Ellis Invitational and the Holy Cross Invitational.
- Junior Jonathan Collins won decathlon at the Holy Cross Multi-Event Meet on Friday, posting a score of 6,417 points.
- Four UMass runners posted New England qualifying times at the Larry Ellis Invitational on Friday, including all three Minutemen that ran the 3,000 meter steeplechase. Sophomore Dawson Bathgate led the group in 12^th at 9 minutes, 11.17 seconds, while classmate Erik Engstrom ran 9 minutes, 20.69 seconds to 21^st and junior Eric Waterman took 25^th in 9 minutes, 24.90 seconds.
- Sophomore Kendall Westhoff qualified for the New England Championships in 5,000 meter run, crossing the finish line fourth in 14 minutes, 51.46 seconds.
- Redshirt junior Evan Burton posted the best discus performance by a Minuteman since 2000 and won two events at the Holy Cross Invitational last Saturday. Burton's winning discus toss of 165 feet, 4 inches landed him fourth all-time in program history and was one of three New England-qualifying performances for the Minutemen on the day. He was victorious in shot put, as well, with a mark of 48 feet 4.75 inches. He was honored as the Atlantic 10 Men's Field Performer of the Week for that showing.
- Sophomore Noah Kortkamp qualified for the New England Championships in 110 meter hurdles, placing third at 14.83 seconds.
- At the Larry Ellis Invitational, junior Michael Famiglietti qualified for the New England Championships in 5,000 meter run, clocking in at 14 minutes, 46.72 seconds, which landed him 19^th.

Indoor Recap
- The Minutemen set three top-five all-time marks this season: John Chuma matched his No. 3 all-time mark in pole vault at 15 feet, 9 inches, Jonathan Collins posted a PR in heptathlon at the Atlantic 10 Championships of 4,823 points, good for third all-time and Jake DeGrace ran 8.07 second in 60 meter hurdles at the John Thomas Terrier Classic to tie for third all-time.
- At the New England Championships, junior Brian Gendron earned bronze in the 800m run.
- The Minutemen collected four medals at the Atlantic 10 Championships and finished fifth in the team standings with 56.5 points. Junior Jonathan Collins improved to second all-time in UMass history in heptathlon, taking gold with a score of 5,214 points. Sophomore Hunter Gray captured bronze in the event with 4,512 points. Junior Jake DeGrace earned silver in 60 meter hurdles and John Chuma took home bronze in pole vault after posting a PR in the event.

Look Who's Back
- The Minutemen have eight individuals active for the 2018 outdoor track and field season who scored points at the 2017 Atlantic 10 Outdoor Championships.
- The Atlantic 10 champion in heptathlon this indoor season, junior Jonathan Collins was a silver medalist in decathlon at last year's outdoor A-10 meet.
- Senior John Chuma was a bronze medalist in pole vault at the 2017 Outdoor Atlantic 10 Championships, he is coming off a silver medal in the event this indoor season.
- Senior Evan Burton landed fourth in hammer throw at the 2017 Atlantic 10 Championships and junior John Long placed fourth in javelin. Burton also scored in discus and shot put, claiming fourth and fifth, respectively.
- Sophomores Dawson Bathgate and Erik Engstrom scored in the 10,000m run as freshmen at A-10's in fifth and eighth.
- Jake DeGrace and freshman Noah Kortkamp scored in 110 meter hurdles at the 2017 outdoor A-10 meet, taking seventh and eighth.

Collins Honored By A-10
- Junior Jonathan Collins was named the Atlantic 10 Men's Field Performer of the Week on Jan. 16 following his performance at the Harvard Multi Meet the weekend before.
- Collins captured the runner-up spot in heptathlon at the Harvard Multi Meet with a new personal record of 4,823 points, which improved him to third all-time in UMass history.
- The Southwick, Massachusetts native was aided by a win in pole vault on day two, clearing a height of 13 feet, 11.25 inches for 688 points. His best performance of the day two came in shot put, winning the event with a 44-foot, 8-inch throw, good for 704 points.

New Faces
- The Minutemen have welcomed nine freshmen into the fold for 2018: Sprinter Matt Antes (Acton), distance runner Adam Cook (Melrose), jumper/sprinter Sam Darkwa, Jr. (West Springfield), sprinter David Edevbie (London, England), distance runner Brandon Harrington (Westport, Conn.), multi-eventer Michael Long (Sudbury), thrower Coston O'Brien (Westfield, N.J.), middle-distance runner Christopher Polanco (Fitchburg) and jumper Andrew Pondiscio (Sparta, N.J.).

Changing Of The Guard
- Last July, Director of Athletics Ryan Bamford announced David Jackson as director of men's track and field and cross country, with Ken O'Brien moving into a Coach Emeritus role with the men's cross country program after 50 years of service as head coach of men's track and field and cross country. Jackson is in his ninth year working with the program in 2017-18.

Scoreboard

Men's Track And Field Set To Host Pre-Conference Meet On Saturday

Players Mentioned

Matt Antes

Dawson Bathgate

Evan Burton

John Chuma

Jonathan Collins

Adam Cook

Sam Darkwa, Jr.

Jake DeGrace

David Edevbie

Erik Engstrom

Michael Famiglietti

Brian Gendron

Hunter Gray

Brandon Harrington

Noah Kortkamp

John Long

Michael Long

Coston O'Brien

Christopher Polanco

Andrew Pondiscio

Eric Waterman

Kendall Westhoff

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics