NORTON, Mass. – First year Gael Vera (Westminster, Mass.) posted three top-three finishes, while senior Jordan Pinnix (Manchester, Conn.) won the 60-meter hurdles to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) men's track & field team at the Lyon Invitational at Beard Field House on the campus of host Wheaton in Norton, Mass.
Vera established personal-record marks in all three individual events he entered for the Lyons. He was the runner-up in the 200 meters with a time of 22.97 and added a second-place showing in the high jump with a mark of 1.85 meters. He made his collegiate debut with a third-place finish in the 60 meters, crossing the finish at 7.07 for the eighth-fastest clip in school annals. Pinnix topped the field with a mark of 8.50 in the 60-meter hurdles. The Lyons flexed in the event with first year Gavin Landry (Westbrook, Maine) placing third at 8.66 to mark the seventh-fastest time in school history with classmate Joshua Wright (Gorham, Maine) a few steps behind at 8.95 to finish fifth. Sophomore Kevin Smith (Norfolk, Mass.) notched an eighth-place showing with a mark of 9.30. Landry also finished 15th in the long jump with a personal-record leap of 5.43 meters.
Wheaton captured the first-ever mixed relay run by the Lyons with the women's team's sophomore pairing of Jessie Dickson (Southbury, Conn.) and Maya Thomas (Goffstown, N.H.) leading the way, before seniors Kelvin Peterson (Eliot, Maine) and John Dowgiert (Methuen, Mass.) closed out the race and combined on a winning time of 3:44.46. Wheaton also placed third in the 4X200-meter relay with a time of 1:35.52, behind Smith, Landry, Pinnix and Wright.
Peterson registered a season-best time of 7.06 to finish second in the 60 meters for the Lyons and first year Harrison Page (South Berwick, Maine) was fifth in the 400 meters with a time of 52.52.
Junior Kai Hillier (Hinesburg, Vt.) led the Lyons' distance runners with a time of 15:52.30 to place fifth in the 5000 meters, while classmate Nick Lacroix's (Bedford, N.H.) time of 16:13.11 placed him 10th in the meet with the eighth-fastest mark in program history.
Sophomore Logan Quinn (Portsmouth, R.I.) led Wheaton's throwers with a 13th-place finish in the weight throw after a heave of 11.98 meters. First year Kieran Templeton (Glens Falls, N.Y.) finished 22nd in the event with a distance of 9.91 meters.
First year Scott Sloan (Barrington, R.I.) recorded a heave of 11.86 meters to place 14th in the shot put, ahead of junior Griffen Copp (Littleton, Mass.) with an effort of 11.66 meters to finish 16th. Templeton added a 33rd-place push of 9.38 meters in the shot put for the Lyons.
Senior Noah White (Winchester, Mass.) turned in a time of 4:38.93 to finish 17th in the mile for Wheaton and first year Dan McIntyre (Keene, N.H.) clocked in at 2:07.96 to finish 18th in the 800 meters.
The Lyons return to Beard Field House on Saturday, February 1 when they host the Wheaton Invitational at 10:00 a.m. in Norton, Mass.
