GORHAM, Maine – The Wentworth Institute of Technology indoor track team kicked off the 2018 calendar year by competing at the USM II Meet, which was held on the campus of the University of Southern Maine.

Freshman Nick Massauro (Ashland, Mass.) and sophomore Zachary Shelton (North Attleboro, Mass.) competed for the Leopards in the shot put. Both were in the same preliminary flight with Massauro throwing a personal best 10.12 meters (33 feet, 2.5 inches) to finish third while Shelton was fifth in the flight with a personal-best 8.65 meters (28 feet, 4.5 inches). Overall Massauro placed 10th while Shelton was 13th.

Sophomore Dan Padula (Hanover, Mass.) debuted in the long jump, finishing second in his flight with a jump of 6.19 meters (20 feet, 3.75 inches). This jump was good for third overall among 15 competitors.

Freshman Marina Schmid (Mendon, Mass.) placed third in her flight in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 10.09, which advanced her to the finals. In the finals she was fifth with a time of 10.17. She also placed third in the 600-meter run, finishing with a time of 2:01.10.

Three Wentworth runners competed in the 55-meter dash, with senior Jake Skurja (Stratford, Conn.) finishing fifth overall. Skurja won his flight with a time of 6.69 while Padula and sophomore Luke Trickey (Westbrook, Maine) finished fourth and eighth, respectively, in their flight with times of 7.01 and 7.22. In the finals, Skurja ran a time of 6.73, missing a top-three finish with 0.1 seconds.

Senior Dan McSolla (Bridgewater, Mass.) led five Wentworth runners in the mile as he finished second (first collegiate finisher) with a time of 4:21.03. Classmates Patrick Hopkins (Lansdale, Pa.) and Alex Robbins (Mansfield, Mass.) were third (4:33.46) and fourth (4:34.27), respectively, with Robbins recording a personal best. Freshman Anthony Maida (Peabody, Mass.) made his debut in the mile, finishing 11th with a time of 5:18.95 while senior Clay Harman (Broad Brook, Conn.) was 13th (5:40.54).

Freshman Tyler Cosma (Center Moriches, N.Y.) placed fifth in the 600-meter run with a 1:30.26, while junior Chris Kaberle (Pelham, N.H.) and freshman Alexis Umana (Revere, Mass.) finished seventh (1:33.92) and eighth (1:34.47), respectively.

Skurja and Trickey competed in the 200-meter dash with Skurja recording a personal best of 23.20 to finish second and Trickey placing 17th with a time of 25.81.

Senior Josh Gangemi (Norton, Mass.) finished first in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 9:40.02. Freshman Rob Moran (Billerica, Mass.) was third (10:42.45), sophomore Nathan Ouellette (Wells, Maine) was fourth (10:51.74), and freshman Wes Brimeyer (Dubuque, Iowa) placed fifth (11:07.90).

Hopkins, McSolla, Skurja, and Robbins placed second in the distance medley relay with a time of 10:56.85, missing out on first place by just over a second.

The 4x400 relay saw a fourth-place finish from Cosma, Padula, Kaberle, and Trickey, as the quartet had a time of 3:50.92.

Wentworth is back in action next Saturday at the Tufts Invitational.

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