MEDFORD, Mass. – Senior Dan McSolla (Bridgewater, Mass.) took first place in the mile as the Wentworth Institute of Technology indoor track team competed at the Branwen Smith-King Invitational hosted by Tufts University.
McSolla highlighted one of many standout performances on the day, and finished the mile run in 4:17.17. Classmate Jake Skurja (Stratford, Conn.) had a banner day as well, setting two personal records. Skurja ran a 7.26 in the 60-meter preliminaries, and took 3rd place in the finals with a 7.11 finish. The senior went on to set another personal record in the 200, running a 23.05, .15 seconds faster than his previous 200 at the USM Open. Skurja was also a key piece in the 4x400-meter relay, joined by junior Chris Kaberle (Pelham. N.H.), sophomore Dan Padula (Hanover, Mass.), and freshman Alexis Umana (Revere, Mass.).
Freshman Wes Brimeyer (Dubuque, Iowa) shaved 2:43 off his previous 3000-meter race, and set a new personal best with a 9:50.07 clock-in.
Padula finished the 60-meter dash in 7.52, while sophomore Luke Trickey (Westbrook, Maine) clocked in at 7.88. Trickey went on to run the 200-meter race in 25.91, joined by freshman Abderrahman Boukaa (Casablanca, Morocco), who competed in his first 200-meter sprint as a Leopard, and finished in 25.53 to win his heat.
Freshman Will Allen (West Hartford, Conn.) represented Wentworth in the 1000-meter run, coming second in his heat with a final time of 2:48.11, while senior Patrick Hopkins (Lansdale, Pa.) joined McSolla in the mile, running a 4:36.84.
In the 3000, Brimeyer led the Leopards with a 9:50.07 finish, followed by junior Nathan Ouellette (Wells, Maine) and freshman Anthony Maida (Peabody, Mass.). Oullette ran a 10:26.22, while Maida was just behind at 10:34.63.
Senior Alex Robbins (Mansfield, Mass.) and junior Josh Gangemi (Norton, Mass.) rounded out the distance runners in the 5000, finishing at 15:17.17 and 16.25.31, respectively.
In the field events, Padula placed 13th in the long jump at 5.83 meters, while freshman Nick Massauro (Ashland, Mass.) and sophomore Zachary Shelton (North Attleboro, Mass.) competed in the shot put. Massauro placed 3rd in his heat with a 10.6-meter toss, while Shelton threw 8.65 meters. Freshman Marina Schmid placed 7th in the finals heat of the triple-jump with a 9.69-meter mark, and also finished the 60-meter dash in 10.69.
The Leopards are back in action on Saturday, February 10 at the David Hemery Invitational hosted by Boston University.
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