Men's Track & Field Tops Holy Cross And Merrimack To Kick Off 2021 Season

AMHERST, Mass. – University of Massachusetts men's track and field opened its outdoor season hosting a tri-meet with Holy Cross and Merrimack on Friday, placing first in eight events on the day. The Minutemen are in the lead with 130 points over the Warriors (107) and Crusaders (91) through 17 events with pole vault to be contested on Saturday afternoon.

Headlining UMass' eight event wins on the day, the 4x100 meter relay squad of Patrick Walsh, Michael Rodia, Jordan Howard and Felipe Gonzalez combined for a time of 43.54 seconds.

Howard, Walsh and Gonzalez also took the top three spots in the 100 meter dash clocking in at 10.69 seconds, 11.06 seconds and 11.29 seconds, respectively. Howard's 10.69 seconds ties him for fifth all-time with former Minuteman Joe McCormack in the event.

In the 200 meter dash, the Minutemen grabbed the top seven spots out of 11. Sophomore Lucas Honohan paced the group, finishing first with a time of 21.78 seconds. Howard (22.05) followed in second place and Colin Stoddard (22.15) in third. Rodia (22.69), Christopher Matthews (22.76), Riley Drew (22.81) and Gonzalez (22.84), came across the finish line in fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively.

UMass had three scorers in the 400 meter (Jackson Walker – 1^st, 50.67, Bernd Martens – 5^th, 51.93 and Peter Ryan – 7^th, 53.72) and 800 meter (Laurent Alexander – 2^nd, 1:57.55, Herlin Rijo – 3^rd, 1:57.96 and Mojuba Shonekan – 5^th, 2:00.83).

Freshman Denzel Agyeman was second in the 100 meter hurdles (15.93), while sophomore Matthew Tarantino came in sixth (17.18). Agyeman also took fifth in the 400 meter hurdles (59.41).

In the 1,500 meter, Luke Militello ran a time of 4 minutes, 08.77 seconds to claim second place. Jackson Grady ran to fourth place, clocking in at 4 minutes, 14.06 seconds, and Alex Wengryn finished in seventh with a time of 4 minutes, 17.33 seconds.

Wrapping up the track events, the 4x400 meter relay team of Walker, Stoddard, Matthews and Honohan, completed the race in 3 minutes, 26.68 seconds to place third. The 5,000 meter saw two Minutemen finish in the top eight as Caleb Zylka recorded a time of 16 minutes, 12.54 seconds, to come in fourth, while Strickland Davis followed in fifth with a time of 16 minutes, 13.67 seconds.

Junior Coston O'Brien landed first in both discus with his toss of 158 feet, 5 inches and shot put at 51 feet, 1.8 inches. In their collegiate outdoor debuts, freshmen Isaac Passett (130'5"), Tevin Early (127'9") and Bradley Harunkiewicz (125"5") were fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively

Senior Enrique Martinez led a trio of scorers in hammer throw, taking first with a toss of 175 feet, 8 inches, marking the fourth longest throw in UMass history. O'Brien was second (159'11") and Passett was fourth (144'9").

In javelin, sophomore Flynn Mitchell was second at 170 feet, 10 inches, while freshman Peter Kitsakos was third at 169 feet. Joseph Manchester posted at 150 feet, 4 inches to claim fourth in the event.

Andrew Chabon took the top spot in the long jump (23'7.75"), as Noah Kortkamp placed second (21'10") and Tyler Glendon came in third (21'6").

Senior Samuel Darkwa, Jr. landed in second in the triple jump at 42 feet, 3.5 inches.

The Minutemen will return to action on April 3, when they welcome UMass Lowell and Northeastern to the UMass Track & Field Complex for a tri-meet.

Scoreboard

Men's Track & Field Tops Holy Cross And Merrimack To Kick Off 2021 Season

Players Mentioned

Denzel Agyeman

Andrew Chabon

Strickland Davis

Riley Drew

Tevin Early

Tyler Glendon

Felipe Gonzalez

Jackson Grady

Bradley Harunkiewicz

Lucas Honohan

Jordan Howard

Peter Kitsakos

Noah Kortkamp

Joseph Manchester

Bernd Martens

Enrique Martinez

Chris Matthews

Luke Militello

Flynn Mitchell

Isaac Passett

Herlin Rijo

Michael Rodia

Peter Ryan

Mojuba Shonekan

Colin Stoddard

Matthew Tarantino

Jackson Walker

Patrick Walsh

Alex Wengryn

Caleb Zylka

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics