Lord Breaks UMass Pole Vault Record To Win A-10 Title

FAIRFAX, VA. – University of Massachusetts men's track and field junior Mason Lord broke the program record in pole vault to capture the Minutemen's first gold medal of the Atlantic 10 Indoor Track and Field Championships, which began on Saturday at George Mason University Field House. Through five scored events, UMass sits first in the team standings with 35 points, followed by Rhode Island (34 points) and George Mason (30 points).

Lord cleared 16 feet, 1.25 inches, surpassing Sean Busch's 2011 mark of 16 feet, 0.75 inches on Minutemen's all-time indoor list. He led a trio of scorers in pole vault as senior Jonathan Collins was fifth at 14 feet, 3.25 inches and freshman Jack Perry took eighth (13 feet, 9.25 inches).

Senior Evan Burton finished just off the podium, taking fourth in weight throw with a personal best toss of 59 feet, 5.5 inches to move up to third in the program's record book.

UMass scored two in long jump with Noah Kortkamp taking sixth at 22 feet, 1 inch and Myles McDermott landing seventh at 21 feet, 11.75 inches.

On the track, junior Dawson Bathgate and senior Michael Famiglietti collected points for the Minutemen in the 5,000 meter run after finishing fifth and sixth with times of 15 minutes, 1.52 seconds and 15 minutes, 1.68 seconds, respectively.

The distance medley relay squad of Kyle Guzman, Lucas Honohan, Nicholas Santos and Nasir Gibson captured sixth at 10 minutes, 17.57 seconds.

Three more Minutemen qualified for Sunday's finals, including Jordan Howard, who advanced out of the preliminaries in both the 60 meter and 200 meter. Howard posted the top time in 60 meter dash at 6.82 seconds, good for second all-time in program history. In the 200, he ran 22.17 seconds to fifth, while Michael Cuthbert was second in 22.05 seconds.

Senior Brian Gendron earned a spot in the 1,000 meter final, crossing the finish line in sixth at 2 minutes, 30.89 seconds.

Collins leads the heptathlon field through four events with 2,977 points. He opened the day by winning the 60 meter dash at 7.22 seconds for 806 points and long jump at 22 feet, 10 inches for 804 points. In shot put, he threw 43 feet, 9.25 inches for second (688 points) and capped the day by clearing 6 feet, 1.25 inches for third in high jump (679 points).

The Atlantic 10 Championships conclude tomorrow, February 24, with day two's action beginning at 9 a.m. with men's triple jump.

Scoreboard

Players Mentioned

Dawson Bathgate

Evan Burton

Jonathan Collins

Michael Cuthbert

Michael Famiglietti

Brian Gendron

Nasir Gibson

Kyle Guzman

Lucas Honohan

Jordan Howard

Noah Kortkamp

Mason Lord

Myles McDermott

Jack Perry

Nicholas Santos

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics