By Staff Writer Seth Tamarkin.

Over the weekend, the Men and Women’s Track & Field teams took home some excellent victories as well as breaking a few school records.

First, on Saturday, February 23rd, UMass Dartmouth’s men’s indoor track & field team competed at MIT for the 2019 New England Division III Championships. Junior George Papoulis (Haverhill, MA) raced to the finish line to obtain the individual New England crown in the 1,000 meters with a time of 2:28.49. Runner-up was another UMass Dartmouth student, sophomore Bruno Pires (New Bedford, MA), who secured an all-New England runner-up mark of 2:31:03.

After that, the two paired with senior Alex MacMillan (Brockton, MA) as well as junior Delpiero Beaumont (Dorchester, MA) for the all-New England 4 x 400-meter rally.
The group of four came in sixth place with a time of 3:27.25.

Following that was senior Joao Baptista (Malden, MA) as he competed in the high jump. Last week, at the Little East Conference Championships, he had an impressive mark of 1.96 meters/6 feet, 5 inches in the event.

This week, however, Baptista bested his previous mark and set a new personal best with a mark of 2.05 meters/6 feet, 8 ¾ inches in the event, earning him an all-New England honors by arriving in second place. Thanks to those efforts, Baptista now ranks as the 12th best performance in Division III nationally this season.

In addition to Papaoulis, Pires, and Baptista earning individual all-New England accolades, freshman Kaiden Swainamer (Lakeville, MA) did as well. He made it to eighth place in the shot put with a mark of 14.11 meters/46 feet, 3 ½ inches. Overall, the UMass Dartmouth Corsairs tied for 10th place in the final team standings out of 23 entrants.

MIT, the hosts for the event, won the event 164-78 over the runner-up, Tufts University.
After the Men’s event, the Corsairs’ women’s track & field team showed out the next day on February 24th, where they competed at the Boston University Last Chance Qualifier.
Sophomore Taylor Walsh (Groveland, MA) shattered school records with the second fastest time in school history in the 800 meters, with a mark of 2:21.63. Out of the 48 competitors from all divisions, that time landed Walsh in 32nd place.

Taylor Walsh wasn’t the only one making school records though. Junior Jess O’Reilly (Millis, MA) found herself in the UMass Dartmouth women’s indoor track & field records books by running the sixth fastest indoor mile in Corsair history. Her time for the mile was 5:14.11. Out of 31 runners, O’Reilly’s time was good enough to land her in 16th place.
After some impressive individual wins, UMass Dartmouth’s Corsairs are gearing up for another meet next Saturday at the Tufts Last Chance Qualifier, in Medford, Massachusetts.