McSolla, Hopkins Notch First-Place Finishes at Tufts Invitational

MEDFORD, Mass. – Juniors Dan McSolla (Bridgewater, Mass.) and Patrick Hopkins (Lansdale, Pa.) each took home first-place finishes to help the Wentworth Institute of Technology indoor track team post a strong showing at the Tufts Invitational. McSolla captured the 1,000-meter race and Hopkins took first place in the 3,000-meter race.

Junior Jake Skurja (Stratford, Conn.) and freshman Luke Trickey (Westbrook, Maine) each ran in the 200-meter race. Skurja won his heat with a time of 23.33 seconds and Trickey captured his heat in 24.55 seconds. Skurja's time was sixth overall and Trickey placed 22nd overall out of 42 runners.

Sophomore Sam Gerken (Yarmouth, Maine) ran a time of 1:26.17 in the 600 meters which placed him fifth in his heat and was the sixth-fastest time of the day among 26 runners.

Freshman Tom Caruso (Mahopac, N.Y.) and sophomore Chris Kaberle (Pelham, N.H.) placed fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 800 meters. Caruso ran a time of 2:08.26 and Kaberle finished with a time of 2:10.94.

McSolla's time of 2:28.50 in the 1,000 meters qualified him for the New England Championships in another event as he bested the 25-runner field. Junior Zach Howey (Sherwood, Ark.) was sixth in his heat with a time of 2:59.36, followed by Nathan Ouellette (Wells, Maine) who was seventh in the same heat with a time of 2:59.34. The pair finished 19th and 20th overall out of 25 runners.

Four Leopard runners competed in the mile, all running in the same heat. Sophomore Josh Gangemi (Norton, Mass.) was second with a time of 4:37.45, junior Alex Robbins (Mansfield, Mass.) right behind him with a time of 4:37.56, senior David Ouellette (Wells, Maine) was 12th (4:56.88), and junior Clay Harman (Broad Brook, Conn.) was 19th (5:35.20). Overall, among 34 runners, Gangemi was 14th, Robbins was 15th, Ouellette was 27th, and Harman was 34th.

Hopkins qualified for the Division III New England Championships as he bested the 25-runner field in the 3,000 meters with a time of 8:54.11. His time was just over four seconds faster than the second-place finisher.

Wentworth had a pair of entries in the 4X400 relay and both finished first in their respective heats. Gerken, Kaberle, Skurja, and McSolla finished with a time of 3:32.05 while Gangemi, Caruso, Trickey, and Howey finished with a time of 3:48.61. The two teams finished sixth and 12th overall, respectively.

The Leopards will be back at Tufts on Jan. 28.