NORTON, Mass. — Senior Nick Lacroix (Bedford, N.H.) first year Josy Wright (Sharon, Mass.) both won events to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) men's track & field team today at the Wheaton Invitational at Beard Field House in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons placed third as a team in the meet with 84 points, finishing behind first-place University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's total of 162 and Springfield College's count of 136 points.
Wright registered his first collegiate win with a time of 22.36 in the 200 meters, while Lacroix finished first in the 3000 meters with a mark of 9:07.33. Wright fueled Wheaton's big push in the 4X400-meter relay, making up a sizable deficit after the first 200 meters and overtaking UMass Dartmouth, before handing off to first year Nolan Bushnell (Rochester, Mass.), who maintained the Lyons' lead to complete a winning time of 3:28.23. The pair joined sophomore Harrison Page (South Berwick, Maine) and junior Kevin Smith (Norfolk, Mass.).
Sophomore Gael Vera (Westminster, Mass.) placed second in the 60 meters with a clip of 7.04 in addition to finishing fifth in the high jump after a height of 1.87 meters for the Lyons. Classmate Gavin Landry (Sebago, Maine) recorded a third-place showing in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.55 and sophomore Aidan Greenleaf (Topsham, Maine) turned in a third-place effort in the 200 meters with a time of 23.13. Senior Kai Hillier (Hinesburg, Vt.) produced a third-place showing with the fourth-fastest time in the 1000 meters in school history at 2:34.83. Hillier led an impressive contingent in the 1000 meters for Wheaton with Bushnell placing fifth with a time of 2:34.93 and sophomore Dan McIntyre (Keene, N.H.) placing sixth with a personal-best mark of 2:40.44.
The Lyons continued its distance prowess in the mile, courtesy of sophomore Nathan Pires (Yarmouth, Maine) clocking in at 4:50.57 to finish fourth in the mile, ahead of first year Jack Kittredge's (Broad Brook, Conn.) personal-record time of 4:52.96. First year Will Doyle (Milton, Mass.) was steps behind at 4:53.11 in sixth place, while senior Lucas MacKenzie (Saint Albans, Vt.) gave Wheaton four runners with times within four seconds of each other at 4:54.13 to finish seventh.
Junior Andrew Fortin (South Dartmouth, Mass.) placed fifth in the 400 meters with a time of 2:34.83, while sophomore Finn Morris (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) put together a personal-best time of 9:43.76 to finish seventh in the 3000 meters. First year Eli Pinney (Brockton, Mass.) and senior GJ Mualis (Taunton, Mass.) each placed among the top 10 in the long jump for the Lyons. Pinney registered a leap of 5.88 meters to finish eighth and Mualis landed at 5.85 meters to place ninth. Senior Griffen Copp (Littleton, Mass.) and first year Nick Barbee (Manchester, N.H.) led Wheaton's throwers. Barbee's toss of 12.18 meters was good for 10th place and is the sixth-best throw in school annals. Copp recorded a distance of 5.85 meters to finish 15th in the shot put for the Lyons.
Wheaton returns to action on Friday, February 13 when it competes at both the David Hemery Valentine Invitational hosted by Boston University and the Cupid Challenge, hosted by Tufts University.
