Lancers Place Sixth At Tufts Invitational
Medford, MA --- Senior Mark Johnson placed second in two events while junior Pius Oyelohunnu notched fourth in the 55 meter run to help represent Worcester State at the Tufts Invitational.
Medford, MA --- The Worcester State Men’s Track and Field Team returned to competition as the intersession break draws to and end. Traveling to Tufts for this first meet of second semester, the Lancers finished 6th overall, while competing in a limited number of events. As is usually the case after a long break, some team members returned, having worked hard over the break while others will have to grind themselves back into form quickly.
Among those who came back ready to perform were team captain Mark Johnson who managed two second place finishes, one individual fourth place and a relay fourth place on the day. Johnson was runner –up in the 55m dash in a time of 6.68 seconds and a leap of 20’11.75” in the long jump. In the 200m, he posted a time of 23.16 and ran the anchor leg of the 4 x 400m relay (3:40.64) running a split of 53.8 after just finishing the long jump. Johnson has already qualified for post season championship meets in all three of his individual events.
Joining him in the spotlight in the sprint events was junior Pius Oyelohunnu who finished fourth in the 55m dash while posting personal bests in both the trials and in the finals. His time of 6.70 in the finals qualifies Oyelohunnu for the D3 New England Championships along with Johnson. Pius also finished 7th in the 200m in time of 23.79 in that event and ran leadoff on the 4 x400m relay.
Freshman standout Ian Fields finished sixth in the high jump with a vertical leap of 6’1.75” in the event. Sophomore RJ Stahelski finished 8th in the 600m in a time of 1:26.77 just missing the school record and also falling just short of qualifying for D3 New Englands for the second time this season. Stahelski was also the 2nd leg of the 4 x 400m relay.
Freshman Jim Goyette had a solid day, finishing eighth in the triple jump, despite just running the third leg of the 4 x 400m relay and he also compete in the long jump though not making the final. All in all, the meet was a good opportunity to regroup and refocus after the break with most of the team moving in the right direction.
The Lancers will travel next week to Wesleyan with hopes that hard work this week will provide the team with additional successes next time out.
Release Courtesy of Men's Indoor Track and Field Head Coach Al Halper