By Sports Editor Dylan Botehlo.
Both the men’s and women’s University of Massachusetts Dartmouth indoor track & field teams shined in the start of their respective seasons on Saturday afternoon at the University of Massachusetts Boston Indoor Open at the Reggie Lewis Center.
The Corsairs teams combined for 12 top 10 individual performances at the open, giving plenty of star performances. Senior Jared Louf-Woods picked up where he left off last season and led the way for the Corsair men’s squad, setting a school record in the shot put (16.45 meters/53 feet, 11 ¾ inches) for top placing and finishing as runner up in the weight throw with a toss of 17.97 meters/58 feet, 11 ½ inches.
More records were set as junior George Papoulis set a meet record during his first place performance in the 1,000 meters with a time of 2:30.99. Papoulis’ feats were followed by a three respective fifth place finishes from senior Joao Baptista, junior Travis dolcine and freshman Evan Vasconcellos in the long jump, mile, and 500 meters.
The Corsair men’s team didn’t stop there, as more top 10 finishes were in store. Senior Jason Karakaedos and freshman Steve Stromski finished seconds away from each other in the 3,000 meters with times of 9:00.93 and 9:04.02 earning them sixth and seventh place finishes respectively.
Rounding out the remainder of the top 10 finishes, was freshman Andre Swallow who finished seventh place in the shot put with a throw of 13.23 meters/43 feet, 5 inches and the UMass Dartmouth 4 x 400-meter relay team consisting of Papoulis, senior Mike Tierny, junior Delpiero Beaumont and sophomore Moisse Irizarry who finished in fifth place with a time of 3:33.67 in their event.
On the women’s end, three women placed in the top 10 of their respective events. Junior MacKenzie Garvey was the highest of the three, finishing in third place in the shot put with a throw of 11.81 meters/38 feet, 9 inches. In the 5,000 meter, junior Jess O’Reilly finished in a solid fifth place with a time of 19:18.80 and sophomore Taylor Walsh rounded out the top 10 of the mile race with a time of 5:36.35.
UMass Dartmouth’s successful opening meet earned the men’s indoor track & field team three Little East Conference weekly awards. Louf-Woods was named the Little East Field Athlete of the Week after taking home top honors and setting his school record in shot put and Papoulis was named Little East Track Athlete of the Week after setting the meet record and securing first place in the 1,000 meters. Finally, the men’s 4 x 400 team that earned a fifth place finish also earned themselves the honor of the Little East Relay Team of the Week.
Both UMass Dartmouth indoor track and field teams will be back in action on Saturday, January 12th when they head to Medford, Massachusetts to compete in the Tufts Invitational at 10:00 a.m.