SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – First year Andrew Fortin (Dartmouth, Mass.) placed second in the 400-meter hurdles to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) men's track & field team to a sixth place finish following the final day of the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference Men's Track & Field Championship hosted by Springfield College at Blake Track in Springfield, Mass.
The Lyons tallied 42 points for the meet. No. 7 nationally-ranked Massachusetts Institute of Technology captured its 22nd NEWMAC crown with 234 points. Springfield College placed second with 157 points, while Babson College was third with 151 points. Worcester Polytechnic Institute finished fourth just a half point behind with 150.5 points, followed by United States Coast Guard Academy with 63.5 points.
Fortin clocked in with a personal-record time of 57.21 to place second and settle in with the ninth-fastest time in the event in school history.
He was one of five Wheaton competitors to record personal-bests during the meet.
Junior Zac Elmasri finished sixth in the 400-hurdles with a time of 1:01.00, while senior Matt Lambert (Hampton, N.H.) gave the Lyons three point-scorers in the event with an eighth-place showing on a time of 1:02.16. Sophomore Nick Lacroix (Bedford, N.H.) finished 11th with a mark of 1:03.69. Lacroix and Lambert also scored points in the 3000-meter steeplechase for Wheaton. Lacroix posted a time of 10:06.69 to place sixth, while Lambert finished eighth with a mark of 10:15.93.
Junior Jordan Pinnix (Manchester, Conn.) joined Fortin in the medal hunt, placing third in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.92. He also placed fifth in the triple jump with a leap of 12.25 meters.
Junior Kelvin Peterson (Eliot, Maine) recorded a pair of sixth-place efforts for the Lyons with a time of 10.96 in the 100 meters and 22.08 in the 200 meters. Junior Ryan Ventura (South Easton, Mass.) posted a personal-record time of 22.75 to finish 14th in the 200 meters and first year Kevin Smith (Norfolk, Mass.) also turned in a personal-best mark (22.78) to place 15th. Sophomore GJ Mualis (Taunton, Mass.) registered a time of 23.32 to finish 18th.
Sophomore Kai Hillier (Hinesburg, Vt.) finished seventh in the 1500 meters to lead the Wheaton distance runners with a time of 4:05.81. Junior Noah White (Winchester, Mass.) placed 12th in the event with a time of 4:15.06 and sophomore Lucas MacKenzie (Saint Albans, Vt.) established a personal-record mark of 4:40.61 to finish 15th.
First year Charlie Stockwell placed 19th in the 800 meters with a time of 2:06.35 and junior William Singer (Los Angeles, Calif.) was also 19th, but in the 400 meters with a mark of 55.40.
First year Logan Quinn led the Lyon throwers with a heave of 25.00 meters to finish 17th in the discus throw.
Wheaton's 4X100 relay squad placed fifth behind Mualis, Peterson, Ventura and Smith to combine for a time of 42.77. The 4X400 relay finished sixth with a mark of 3:36.46 behind the effort of Fortin, sophomore Aris Giatrakos (Stoughton, Mass.), Smith and Singer.
The Lyons return to the track on Friday, May 3 when they head to South Hadley, Mass. for the two-day New England Division III Championship.
